ISSN: 0973-7510
E-ISSN: 2581-690X
The present study reports the toxicity of a marine puffer fish, Lagocephalus scleratus collected from South Indian coastal region (Chennai, India). The toxin from the fish was purified in water-washed activated charcoal and passed through a column of Bio Gel P 2. Toxicity was analyzed by mouse bioassay. Preliminary characterization was performed using UV-vis, TLC and fluorescence spectrophotometry which detected the presence of tetrodotoxin. In vitro antimicrobial activity of this toxin was performed by disc diffusion method against six pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. Hemolytic, acetylcholinesterase and cytotoxicity tests were also carried out to study the potential bioactivity of the toxin. The results of this study indicate that the toxin from L. scleratus has bioactive properties which can be explored and utilized for therapeutic purposes.
Lagocephalus scleratus, Tetrodotoxin, Antimicrobial activity, Hemolytic activity, Acetylcholinesterase activity, Cytotoxicity test
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