Water-soluble and lipid-soluble arsenic compounds in japanese flying squid Todarodes pacificus.

Water-soluble and lipid-soluble arsenic compounds in Japanese flying squid Todarodes pacificus were analyzed. Regardless of the tissues, the major water-soluble arsenic compound was identified as arsenobetaine by LC/ESI-MS analysis, as reported for a number of marine animals. Lipid-soluble arsenic compounds were found at relatively high levels in liver and testis. LC/ESI-MS analysis of water-soluble arsenic compounds released from liver phospholipids by either chemical hydrolysis or phospholipase D hydrolysis demonstrated that the major arsenolipids are dimethylarsinic acid (DMA)-containing glycerophospholipid (phosphatidyldimethylarsinic acid) and DMA-containing sphingomyelin where the choline moiety of sphingomyelin is replaced by DMA. This is the first work to report the presence of DMA-containing phospholipids in marine invertebrates.