This is the final part of my three part series on neurotoxins.
Today's Medical Topic: Saxitoxin.
My Research Today: Saxitoxin is associated with a condition known as Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. It is most commonly introduced to humans when they consume shellfish that is contaminated with the toxin. The shellfish or mollusks must filter feed a specific kind of dinoflagellate algae to become contaminated and this algae is what produces this very potent neurotoxin.
Saxitoxin is thought to be one of the most toxic naturally occurring non-protein substances in the world. A dose as small as 0.2mg can be fatal to humans. To put that into perspective a standard dose of Tylenol is 650mg. Luckily for us most times we do not consume that much toxin and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning is rarely fatal.
Symptoms include tingling, numbness, weakness and paralysis which usually manifest within 12 hours if you have ingested the poison. If all else fails you can place a patient on life support until they metabolize the poison. Your body will breakdown damn near anything if you can keep it alive long enough.
So how does Saxitoxin work? Once digested Saxitoxin finds itself into your blood stream diffusing throughout your body. It selectively binds to voltage-gated sodium channels closing them and blocking passage of the nerve impulse. If you can't move sodium ions, you can't change your membrane potential.
The difference between this toxin and curare is that this one doesn't compete with acytelcholine it just jams itself into the ion channel. ACh can bind if it wants but it won't do dick because the channel is blocked with a big ass molecule of saxitoxin.
So there you go. I hope you enjoyed this series. Tomorrow we start on histology!
Saxitoxin is thought to be one of the most toxic naturally occurring non-protein substances in the world. A dose as small as 0.2mg can be fatal to humans. To put that into perspective a standard dose of Tylenol is 650mg. Luckily for us most times we do not consume that much toxin and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning is rarely fatal.
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| Saxitoxin, apparently. |
So how does Saxitoxin work? Once digested Saxitoxin finds itself into your blood stream diffusing throughout your body. It selectively binds to voltage-gated sodium channels closing them and blocking passage of the nerve impulse. If you can't move sodium ions, you can't change your membrane potential.
The difference between this toxin and curare is that this one doesn't compete with acytelcholine it just jams itself into the ion channel. ACh can bind if it wants but it won't do dick because the channel is blocked with a big ass molecule of saxitoxin.
So there you go. I hope you enjoyed this series. Tomorrow we start on histology!
Send questions or comments to dudaday@gmail.com
Disclaimer: I am not a health care provider, any information presented in this blog should not be considered advice it is mearly an outlet to slake my curiosity. You should always consult your primary medical provider for any concerns or illness. Unlike Tylenol, I am not approved by the FDA or American Medical Association to treat or provide relief for any ailment.
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