Consuming seafood can produce potentially toxic arsenic compounds in the human body. The previous doctrine that the concentration is too low to be dangerous has apparently been refuted by a Swiss study.
Researchers from the University of Bern (Unibe) investigated the so-called arsenobetaine metabolism in mice with different colonization statuses of intestinal microbes. Arsenobetaine is one of the most common arsenic compounds in seafood, including algae, fish and crustaceans. Three groups of mice were fed a diet rich in arsenobetaine to compare arsenic metabolism, body distribution and excretion.
Mice with gut microbes accumulated a higher concentration of arsenic in their intestinal tract than germ-free mice. The researchers observed the formation of specific, highly toxic arsenic compounds in the colon of microbially colonized mice. In conventional mice switched to a low-arsenic diet, the elimination of arsenic from the body was significantly slower than in germ-free mice.
The “harmful effect” of intestinal bacteria
“Gut microbes therefore play a crucial role in the metabolism of arsenobetaine in the body. In this case, however, the microbiome appears to have a harmful effect,” said gut microbiome expert Siegfried Hapfelmeier in the “Journal of Hazardous Materials.” Arsenobetaine was previously considered to be of low risk to humans due to its low toxicity and rapid elimination. This view has now been questioned.
Source: Krone
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