Amazing creatures #2 Painkilling Pufferfish

vinamra (54)in #steemstem • 8 years ago

Cancer patients can have a non-opioid pain relief from this powerful neurotoxin produced by puffer fish.

Hey Steemians,

Today, just going through the internet, I found something that I thought to share with you all. Have you ever taken a painkiller, what it does and how? The painkillers are just opioids which basically numb your senses and let you feel free, that’s what a painkiller do. Have you ever came across a puffer fish, Pufferfish belongs to the family Tetraodontidae and they include various species.

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Most of the puffer fish species are toxic and some of them are reported to be the most poisonous vertebrates. Some of the species have the tetrodotoxin on the skin or in the internal organs, will be talking on its toxin later. First tell you some interesting fact about the puffer fish.

They are most diverse in tropics while uncommon in temperate zone and not present in cold water (1). Most of them live in marine or brackish water, some enters to the fresh water. Around 35 species spend their entire life-cycle in the fresh water.

Puffer fish are generally slow in movement, the movement is basically by combining movement of pectoral, dorsal, anal and caudal fins. Which makes it highly maneuverable, but slow, and therefore making it an easy target for the predators. Nature has gifted it a very effective defensive mechanism of excellent eyesight and combining the speed burst is the first and most important defense against predators. Image Source

Puffer’s secondary defense mechanism, is the filling the extremely elastic stomach with water or air and making itself spherical in shape, and the surface is full of spines. So, if a predator try to fulfill its hunger by puffer fish, it will suddenly face an unpalatable, pointy ball rather than a slow and tasty fish. Predators which are lucky enough to catch it and swallow it immediately may die due to choking and predators which are large enough to swallow it properly may fill its stomach full of tetrodotoxin and making the puffer an unpleasant, possible lethal choice to prey on. Image Source

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The neurotoxins are mainly found in ovaries and liver, although some of it also exist in intestine and skin, and some trace amount in the skin also. It is not necessary that it can have lethal effect on the large predators like sharks but it can kill humans.

Puffer flesh can be poisonous if not served properly. In a restaurant fare described as Russian roulette, Fugu the sushi-specific term for puffer fish. Puffer’s tetrodotoxins (neurotoxin) is a non-protein sodium channel blocker and results in respiratory paralysis. Puffer’s toxin can kill an adult human by as small as a milligram amount of it within four to six hours. A person who cook this fugu dish in Japan must be trained and licensed to do it, as a slight slip of knife can contaminate the fish flesh.

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Despite of having a frightening reputation, fugu remains to be one of the popular treat in many Asian country. The puffer’s toxin is now gaining interest in the west, not as a killer, but as a potential painkiller or pain reliever. A Vancouver based bioscience firm International Wex Technologies has announced that it has been cleared to embark on phase IIb/III clinical trial for tectin. Promising results have been shown by the purified form of tetrodotoxins. The resultant drug is found to be more powerful and efficient than morphine without any side effect of physical dependence.

Tetrodotoxins works by binding to a peptide complex at the mouth of voltage-gated sodium channel, where it remain for several seconds. The signal transmission got stopped by blocking the channel and rendering the sodium cations entry (action potential of membrane is halted). Symptoms of tetrodotoxins starts just after 15 minutes of ingestion, and progresses into nausea, vomiting, burning of lips, abdominal pain, speech difficulties, paralysis and seizures etc. just like any other neurotoxins symptoms.

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“These tetrodotoxins are produced by the symbiotic marine bacteria”. Puffer’s fish have evolved into a mutated version of sodium channel receptor which makes the puffer immune to the toxin, proving home for bacteria and protection to the puffer fish.

In Asia, tetrodotoxins are being used for years to treat the migraine pain and menstrual cramps. Wex Industries have developed a method to purify the tetrodotoxins, which can be safe enough to use as a drug and can be released in the market.

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Patiants were given microgram amount of drug via intermuscular injection twice a day for four days in the IInd phase of trial for tectin. Out of 22 cancer patients 17 experienced fully or partial relief from the pain. Prof. C. Richard Chapman professor of anesthesiology says “Tetrodotoxin is acting probably on tissue injury signals transmitted within peripheral nerves whereas the morphine acts primarily at the spinal cord”. Although Wex Industries are still away from taking this drug into the market.