An Updated Review of Tetrodotoxin and Its Peculiarities |
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Authors: | Panagiota Katikou,Cengiz Gokbulut,Ali Rı za Kosker,Mò nica Campà s,Fatih Ozogul |
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Affiliation: | 1.Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Directorate of Research, Innovation and Education, Hapsa & Karatasou 1, 54626 Thessaloniki, Greece;2.Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Balikesir University, Balikesir 10145, Turkey;3.Department of Seafood Processing Technology, Faculty of Fisheries, Cukurova University, Adana 01330, Turkey;4.IRTA, Ctra Poble Nou km 5.5, 43540 Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Spain; |
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Abstract: | Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a crystalline, weakly basic, colorless organic substance and is one of the most potent marine toxins known. Although TTX was first isolated from pufferfish, it has been found in numerous other marine organisms and a few terrestrial species. Moreover, tetrodotoxication is still an important health problem today, as TTX has no known antidote. TTX poisonings were most commonly reported from Japan, Thailand, and China, but today the risk of TTX poisoning is spreading around the world. Recent studies have shown that TTX-containing fish are being found in other regions of the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. This review aims to summarize pertinent information available to date on the structure, origin, distribution, mechanism of action of TTX and analytical methods used for the detection of TTX, as well as on TTX-containing organisms, symptoms of TTX poisoning, and incidence worldwide. |
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Keywords: | marine toxins tetrodotoxin (TTX) public health edible marine organisms pufferfish |
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