Textrodotoxin, frequently abbreviated as TTX, The toxin can enter the body by ingestion, injection, inhalation and through abraded skin.[25] The mechanism of toxicity is through the blockage of fast voltage-gated sodium channels. These are required for the normal transmission of signals between the body and brain, as a result, TTX causes paralysis of voluntary muscles (including the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, stopping breathing), the loss of vagal regulation of heart rate (causing it to increase to around 100bpm), and loss of sensation
ts name derives from pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish or mola, and triggerfish, blue-ringed octopus, rough-skinned newt, and Naticidae.
The toxin was first isolated and named in 1909 by Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshizumi Tahara but the first recorded cases of TTX poisoning were from the logs of Captain James Cook from 7 September 1774, on which date Cook recorded his crew eating some local pufferfish, then feeding the remains to the pigs kept on board. The crew experienced numbness and shortness of breath, while the pigs were all found dead the next morning. In hindsight, it is clear that the crew received a mild dose of tetrodotoxin, while the pigs ate the pufferfish body parts that contain most of the toxin, thus being fatally poisoned.