Palytoxin, friend or enemy?
The double-edged sword, a poison with multiple benefits…
The most toxic poison ever discovered
Today we are talking about one of the most toxic poisons known to mankind to date. This substance is not the result of a crazy laboratory invention, it comes from the natural environment, and it is even possible that many of you have it in your home, or rather in your aquarium. It is palytoxin, which is produced by a dinoflagellate called Ostreopsis siamensis and many species of corals including Palythoa clavata.
This toxin is not sufficiently well known to aquarium keepers, so we would like to explain to you in broad terms the particularities of this substance, which is both extremely dangerous and is also studied for its proven effectiveness as a treatment for diseases such as leukaemia.
When you are contaminated, due to contact, inhalation or ingestion via vapours, microdroplets, or direct contact with the substance, palytoxin can cause various symptoms that occur from a few minutes to a few hours after contamination.
In contact with the blood vessels for example, the toxin acts as a vasoconstrictor, i.e. it narrows the vessels, which can cause death within 24 hours.
All these routes of exposure are possible in aquariums, for example when placing coral in the aquarium, during cleaning or during attempts to eradicate the coral if it invades the aquarium (removal by brushing and boiling).
It is never too late to warn aquarists of the dangers of owning certain types of coral. Handling should be done with care, and with suitable equipment (using gloves and goggles).
Examples of species with high toxicity include Palythoa heliodiscus or Palythoa clavata. On the other hand, species such as Palythoa mutuki, P. tubercolosa, P. Zoanthus sansibaricus or Zoanthus sociatus have no or very low toxicity.
Corals with high toxicity are sold in trade without special restrictions, as animals imported for trade are regulated on the basis of the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)” and not on the basis of their potential toxicity. This is why it is possible to end up with species of soft corals in your aquarium that are capable of killing a man in a few hours.
A surprisingly beneficial toxin
Moreover, despite the dangerousness of this toxin, palytoxin would have major medical interests in the treatment of diseases such as cancer or leukaemia.
The founder of Planktovie, Olivier Detournay, worked for several years on methods of obtaining and producing palytoxin for the treatment of cancer (patent US No. 2016/0310462 A1).
While waiting for scientific advances on this subject, we advise aquarists with the toxic species presented above to take all the necessary precautions when handling aquariums or corals, as the best treatment remains prevention!