Abstract
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin responsible for many human intoxications and fatalities each year. The origin of TTX is unknown, but in the pufferfish, it seems to be produced by endosymbiotic bacteria that often seem to be passed down the food chain. The ingestion of contaminated pufferfish, considered the most delicious fish in Japan, is the usual route of toxicity. This neurotoxin, reported as a threat to human health in Asian countries, has spread to the Pacific and Mediterranean, due to the increase of temperature waters worldwide. TTX, for which there is no known antidote, inhibits sodium channel producing heart failure in many cases and consequently death. In Japan, a regulatory limit of 2 mg eq TTX/kg was established, although the restaurant preparation of “fugu” is strictly controlled by law and only chefs qualified are allowed to prepare the fish. Due to its paralysis effect, this neurotoxin could be used in the medical field as an analgesic to treat some cancer pains.
Highlights
In July 1894, Dr Yoshizumi Tahara presented the poison isolated from aqueous extract of ovaries of globefish at the monthly meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
The TTX intoxication of the trumpet shell following the ingestion of toxic starfish [7], TTX production by marine bacteria [14], the facts that pufferfish become non-toxic when artificially reared with non-toxic diets [15,16,17] and that such non-toxic pufferfish become toxic when fed TTX-containing diets [18,19,20], have pointed out that the main mechanism of TTX accumulation in pufferfish is the food chain, consisting of several steps and starting with marine bacteria as a primary source of TTX
Toxicity is generally high in the liver and ovary, whereas in freshwater species, toxicity is higher in the skin
Summary
In July 1894, Dr Yoshizumi Tahara presented the poison isolated from aqueous extract of ovaries of globefish at the monthly meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. Later, he established an improved method for extraction and purification suitable for large-scale production of the poison. TTX, one of the most powerful neurotoxins known, it is about 1200 times more toxic to humans than cyanide and it has no known antidote This toxin binds to the sodium channels of the excitable tissues in the human body (muscles and nerves) and the inhibition of sodium ions through the channels effectively immobilises these tissues [24]. The detailed origin and distribution in nature, the toxicity and mechanism of action and the different medical uses of TTX are thoroughly described
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