Toxicokinetic study of a sea anemone toxin in mice after intraperitoneal injection

ABSTRACT

One of the two low molecular weight [200-300 Dalton] toxins extracted from sea anemone, Gyrostoma helianthus, from the vicinity of Hurgada, Red Sea, Egypt was subjected to a toxicokinetic study. The concentration-time profile of the acetylcholine esterase [AchE] inhibitor sea anemone toxin was characterized using 20g male mice injected with 10 mg toxin as a single dose. Serum and five tissues were collected at 8 interval points [5, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 minutes]. The toxin was extracted from these biological matrixes by acetonitrile. The Gyrostoma helianthus toxin showed short action as the half-life values vary from 4.5 to 27.5 min .The maximum time [tmax] was 30 min in serum and in all tissues except the heart which peaked at 45 min. The sea anemone toxin also showed first order kinetic