Palytoxin

BACKGROUND Keeping exotic pets can lead to dangerous situations. We describe an ophthalmological injury caused by Palythoa, an anemone that produces palytoxin when irritated. Palytoxin is one of the most poisonous marine toxins ever described. CASE This case concerns a healthy, 44-year-old man who had rubbed his eyes after setting up a tropical aquarium, which contained sea-anemones among other species. This resulted in bilateral corneal melting, or keratolysis. The injury turned out to be caused by palytoxin...

In marine ecosystems, dinoflagellates can become highly abundant and even dominant at times, despite their comparatively slow growth. Their ecological success may be related to their production of complex toxic polyketide compounds. Ostreopsis species produce potent palytoxin-like compounds (PLTX), which are associated with human skin and eye irritations, and illnesses through the consumption of contaminated seafood. To investigate the genetic basis of PLTX-like compounds, we sequenced and annotated transcriptomes from two PLTX- producing Ostreopsis species; O...

In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that phycotoxins can impact intestinal epithelial cells and can cross the intestinal barrier to some extent. Therefore, phycotoxins can reach cells underlying the epithelium, such as enteric glial cells (EGCs), which are involved in gut homeostasis, motility, and barrier integrity. This study compared the toxicological effects of pectenotoxin-2 (PTX2), yessotoxin (YTX), okadaic acid (OA), azaspiracid-1 (AZA1), 13-desmethyl-spirolide C (SPX), and palytoxin (PlTX) on the rat EGC cell line CRL2690...

Ostreopsis cf. ovata is a benthic microalga distributed in tropical and temperate regions worldwide which produces palytoxins (PlTXs). Herein, an electrochemical biosensor for the detection of this toxic microalga is described. The detection strategy involves isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) of the target using tailed primers and a sandwich hybridisation assay on maleimide-coated magnetic beads immobilised on electrode arrays. The biosensor attained a limit of detection of 9 pg/μL of O...

Marine isolates such as palytoxin (PTX) are of concern within the Caribbean region due to their toxicity. PTX for example has been described as a one of the most known potent marine toxins, known to prevent predation from larger species (e.g. vertebrates) as well as the prevention of being overgrown from other coral species. PTX is a polyhydroxylated polyether toxin with a very large and complex chemical structure that possesses both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties. Previous acute toxicity tests using brine shrimp (Artemia salina) and PTX extract had shown it to be moderately toxic...

In September 2015, a massive occurrence of the Ostreopsis species was recorded in central Adriatic Kaštela Bay. In order to taxonomically identify the Ostreopsis species responsible for this event and determine their toxin profile, cells collected in seawater and from benthic macroalgae were analyzed. Conservative taxonomic methods (light microscopy and SEM) and molecular methods (PCR-based assay) allowed the identification of the species Ostreopsis cf. ovata associated with Coolia monotis . The abundance of O...

To date, the genus Ostreopsis comprises eleven described species, of which seven are toxigenic and produce various compounds presenting a major threat to human and environmental health. The taxonomy of several of these species however remains controversial, as it was based mostly on morphological descriptions leading, in some cases, to ambiguous interpretations and even possible misidentifications. The species Ostreopsis lenticularis was first described by Y. Fukuyo from French Polynesia using light microscopy observations, but without genetic information associated...

Palythoa spp. corals and some other marine organisms contain one of the most poisonous substances ever known - palytoxin (PTX). Due to their modest life requirements and ease of breeding, these corals are popular in home aquariums. Here we refer to a case of PTX poisoning of a middle-aged woman who inhaled poisonous vapours while brushing the corals from live rock and compare it with the available literature. As the case revealed that the symptoms of PTX poisoning are not specific and neither is treatment, our aim was to give a brief tabulated review of the symptoms that may indicate such poisoning...

Marine toxins are known among several causes of toxin induced renal injury. Enzymatic mechanism by phospholipase A2 is responsible for acute kidney injury (AKI) in sea snake envenoming without any change in cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance. Cnidarian toxins form pores in the cell membrane with Ca influx storm resulting in cell death. Among plankton toxins domoic acid, palytoxin and maitotoxin cause renal injury by ion transport into the cell through ion channels resulting in renal cell swelling and lysis...

The occurrence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and bacteria can be one of the great threats to public health due to their ability to produce marine toxins (MTs). The most reported MTs include paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), amnesic shellfish toxins (ASTs), diarrheic shellfish toxins (DSTs), cyclic imines (CIs), ciguatoxins (CTXs), azaspiracids (AZTs), palytoxin (PlTXs), tetrodotoxins (TTXs) and their analogs, some of them leading to fatal outcomes. MTs have been reported in several marine organisms causing human poisoning incidents since these organisms constitute the food basis of coastal human populations...

Palytoxin (PlTX) and analogues are produced by certain dinoflagellates, sea anemones, corals and cyanobacteria. PlTX can accumulate in the food chain and when consumed it may cause intoxication with symptoms like myalgia, weakness, fever, nausea, and vomiting. The analysis of PlTXs is challenging, and because of the large molecular structure, it is difficult to develop a sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. In this work, an LC-MS/MS method was developed to analyse PlTXs with use of lithium iodine and formic acid as additives in the mobile phase...

A case is presented of corneal toxicity after exposure to palytoxin. A 42 year-old man came with symptoms of pain and blurred vision in his right eye. He reported that a zoanthid coral from a saltwater aquarium had squirted into his eye. Slit-lamp examination showed a prominent central ring infiltrate of 4×6mm without epithelial defect and satellite sub-epithelial micro-infiltrates. After 2 months of topical treatment with steroids, the stromal ring infiltrate was resolved, but a stromal thinning and residual fibrosis remained...

Palytoxin analogs are marine toxins with large complex polyol structures. A benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis siamensis produces more than ten palytoxins (ostreocins, OSTs). The limited sample availability of minor OSTs restricts the definition of their chemical structures. The present investigation characterizes structures of two minor OSTs, i.e., ostreocin-A (OSTA) and ostreocin-E1 (OSTE1), using ostreocin-D (OSTD) as a reference compound, by liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry...

The marine algal toxin palytoxin (PLTX) and its analogues are some of the most toxic marine compounds. Their accumulation in edible marine organisms and entrance into the food chain represent their main concerns for human health. Indeed, several fatal human poisonings attributed to these compounds have been recorded in tropical and subtropical areas. Due to the increasing occurrence of PLTX in temperate areas such as the Mediterranean Sea, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has suggested a maximum limit of 30 µg PLTX/kg in shellfish meat, and has recommended the development of rapid, specific, and sensitive methods for detection and quantitation of PLTX in seafood...

Marine biotoxins are produced by aquatic microorganisms and accumulate in shellfish or finfish following the food web. These toxins usually reach human consumers by ingestion of contaminated seafood, although other exposure routes like inhalation or contact have also been reported and may cause serious illness. This review shows the current data regarding the symptoms of acute intoxication for several toxin classes, including paralytic toxins, amnesic toxins, ciguatoxins, brevetoxins, tetrodotoxins, diarrheic toxins, azaspiracids and palytoxins...

We present a case of a toxic reaction in both eyes caused by secretions from an encrusting anemone of the genus Protopalythoa. The patient presented with chemosis and follicular reaction of the conjunctiva and whitish spots on the limbus. Under local treatment with steroids and antibiotic eyedrops, remission was achieved within a few days. Palytoxin, a poisonous component of Protopalythoa secretions, leads to inhibition of the sodium-potassium-ATPase, to destabilization of the membrane potential and to cell death...

Preparations of palytoxin (PLTX, derived from Japanese Palythoa tuberculosa) and the congeners 42-OH-PLTX (from Hawaiian P. toxica) and ovatoxin-a (isolated from a Japanese strain of Ostreopsis ovata), as well as a 50:50 mixture of PLTX and 42-OH-PLTX derived from Hawaiian P. tuberculosa were characterized as to their concentration, composition, in-vitro potency and interaction with an anti-PLTX monoclonal antibody (mAb), after which they were evaluated for lethality and tissue histopathology after intraperitoneal (IP) and aerosol administration to rats...

The sodium-potassium pump (Na+ /K+ pump) is crucial for cell physiology. Despite great advances in the understanding of this ionic pumping system, its mechanism is not completely understood. We propose the use of a statistical model checker to investigate palytoxin (PTX)-induced Na+ /K+ pump channels. We modelled a system of reactions representing transitions between the conformational substates of the channel with parameters, concentrations of the substates and reaction rates extracted from simulations reported in the literature, based on electrophysiological recordings in a whole-cell configuration...

RATIONALE: Ostreocin-B is a new palytoxin congener of comparable complexity. Elucidation of the chemical structure by nuclear magnetic resonance has been hampered due to limited sample availability. More importantly, the dihedral angles of protons at the base of the hydroxyl groups on the ring structures are predicted to produce little couplings and thus disrupt connectivity. The present investigation solved the problem through mass spectrometry. METHODS: Structural elucidation was performed by high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source operated in positive and negative ion mode...

Azaspiracids belong to a family of more than 50 polyether toxins originating from marine dinoflagellates such as Azadinium spinosum. All of the azaspiracids reported thus far contain a 21,22-dihydroxy group. Boric acid gel can bind selectively to compounds containing vic-diols or α-hydroxycarboxylic acids via formation of reversible boronate complexes. Here we report use of the gel to selectively capture and release azaspiracids from extracts of blue mussels. Analysis of the extracts and fractions by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) showed that this procedure resulted in an excellent cleanup of the azaspiracids in the extract...