Cyanobacteria produce a wide range of potent toxins, including hepatotoxic microcystins. HPLC methods for microcystin analysis and purification almost invariably include acetonitrile in the elution gradient mobile phase. The recent, acute, global acetonitrile shortage requires that adequate methods are available for microcystin analysis and purification without the need for acetonitrile. Here w...

Cyanotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria. They pose a threat to human health and the environment. This review summarises the existing data on human exposure to cyanotoxins through drinking water, recreational activities (e.g., swimming, canoeing or bathing), the aquatic food web, terrestrial plants, food supplements, and haemodialysis. Furthermore, it discusses the tolera...

Phytoplanktivorous bighead carp were injected i.p. with extracted microcystins (mainly MC-RR and -LR) at two doses, 200 and 500 MC-LReq.microg kg(-1) bw, and the changes in extractable MCs in liver and in the ultrastructure of hepatocytes were studied at 1, 3, 12, 24 and 48 h after injection. Quantitative and qualitative determinations of MCs in the liver were conducted by HPLC and LC-MS, respe...

Although cyanobacteria were intensively studied for the production of tumor promoting metabolites (including microcystins), only limited experimental evidence on interaction effects with other anthropogenic xenobiotics exist. In the present study, we investigated effects of two cyanobacterial extracts (laboratory cultures of Aphanizomenon gracile and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii; no microcyst...