The following is an excerpt from an AP news article in 2009: “Seven diners in no
ID: 3483311 • Letter: T
Question
The following is an excerpt from an AP news article in 2009:
“Seven diners in northern Japan fell ill and three were still in hospital today after eating blowfish testicles prepared in a restaurant not authorised to serve the poisonous delicacy. The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence, police official Yoshihito Iwase said. Iwase said the seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant last night. Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness – typical signs of blowfish poisoning – and were rushed to a hospital for treatment. Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa health service association. Eating it can cause death within an hour and a half.”
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) binds to the outside of voltage-gated Na+ channels, blocking them. Explain how this could produce muscle paralysis and respiratory failure.
Explanation / Answer
Tetrodotoxn is a selectively and potent blocker of voltage dependent sodium ions in motor nerves and causes skeletal muscle paralysis and death. It causes paralysi by affecting the sodium ion transport in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. when the low dose is taken then it causes numbness around the mouth, toe and fingers. when the high dose is taken then it causes the vomiting, respiratory failure, nausea, difficulty in walking, extensive paralysis and death.
it selectively block the sodiym ion channels found on nociceptive pain fibers. It s supposed that it stabilizes the neuronal membrane by inhibiting the sodium ionic fluxes, which is necessary for initiation, as well as conduction of impulses. It also causes a rapidly progressive sensorimotor polyneuropathy that may affect bulbar and respiratory muscles. it is a neurotoxin that interferes with transmission of the nerve impulse at the nerve muscle junction.
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