I wanted to make a crab cake casserole for Thanksgiving this year, but because of the current toxic algae situation along the California coast, it doesn't look like the crab cakes will happen. Bummer.
The toxic algal bloom (brought on by warm El Nino waters) has caused the commercial crab season to be postponed until further notice (that super sucks for the fishermen). The harmful algal bloom (HAB) is created by the planktonic diatom Psudeoom-nitzchia. These guys are not good because they produce the neuotoxin, domoic acid (DOM), which is responsible for a neurological disorder called amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP).
DOM ACTION
There are a couple of mechanisms attributed as mediators for the effects of domoic acid (DOM). The mech through glutamate receptors is the biggie for excitatory neurotransmission.
Glutamate is a excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Kainic acid (KA) is an excitatory amino acid (EAA) analogue of glutamate that is very structurally similar to DOM. Meaning that DOM can bind to glutamate receptors (GluRs, responsible for memory processing) to act as a potent excitatory neurotransmitter and induce neurotoxic effects.
So a couple of things are going on. DOM activates the ionotropic GluRs (iGluRs). DOM also activates the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid/KA receptor (AMPA/KA-R). AMPA/KA-R causes increased levels of intracellular calcium2+ ions. More calcium ions releases more glutamate. Extra glutamate activates the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDA-R). All these excess things are bad and can cause apoptotic and necrotic neuronal cell death....so yea. No crab.
IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.trbimg.com/img-563d5eb8/turbine/la-dd-dungeness-crab-season-delayed-toxic-algae-20151105
SOURCE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2525487/, http://abc7news.com/business/tiburon-researchers-study-this-years-toxic-algae-bloom/1076860/, http://www.medicaldaily.com/warm-waters-pacific-ocean-stoke-algal-bloom-which-releases-neurotoxin-delaying-361096, http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dungeness-crab-season-delayed-toxic-algae-20151105-story.html
