ABSTRACT
Palytoxin is one of the largest non-proteinaceous natural products and one of the most potent toxins that have ever been found. It was fi rst discovered in zoantharians of the genus Palythoa, which as coelenterates are among the most primitive multicellular organisms and yet are able to produce the most powerful toxin. For decades palytoxin has been the curious subject of intense scientifi c pursuits in many laboratories because of its extraordinary large and complicated chemical structure, unique pharmacology and extremely high lethality. Recently, attention has been shifted to the toxin’s threat to the public health, when recent toxic Ostreopsis algal blooms broke out along the northern Mediterranean coasts in Italy, Greece and Spain. In particular, the dinofl agellate blooms along the Ligurian coasts of Italy have been linked to palytoxin and its analogs (Ciminiello et al. 2006, 2008). In the past, palytoxin was known for causing only a few occasional cases of food poisoning in humans in tropical and subtropical regions for which the term clupeotoxism has been coined to designate such intoxication (Alcala et al. 1988, Onuma et al. 1999, Taniyama et al. 2002). Now a large number of people by the seashore have become affl icted with symptoms
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611 USA. Email: chauwu@sbcglobal.net
of intoxication, all these occurring in the Mediterranean not known to have such outbreaks in the past, such as in Spain, France, Italy and Greece (Aligizaki et al. 2011). This has been shown to be due to aerosols carrying toxic Ostreopsis organisms whipped up from the sea and carried by the wind. Furthermore, there seems to be a trend for the toxic episodes to recur periodically, with alarmingly increasing frequency and intensity. A timely monograph devoted to palytoxin, discussing various scientifi c issues ranging from chemistry, detection, pharmacology, toxicology, and public health has been published by Toxicon in a special issue under the editorship of Rossini (Rossini 2011). As algal blooms of the toxic Ostreopsis are causing environmental concerns in southern European countries, a review of the pharmacological actions of palytoxin will be helpful in efforts to protect the public health and environment.
