Analysis of Palytoxin by Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis

摘要

Palytoxin (PTX) a non protein molecule extracted from soft coral of the genusPalythoa is the most poisonous marine toxin known to date. We have established high performance-capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) and liquid-chromatography (HPLC) methods for the analysis of PTX. The detection limit of the HPLC method was 125 ng/injection. The sensitivity of the HPCE method was 0.5 pg/injection, several times greater than the HPLC method. The detection sensitivity at 230 nm was two fold higher than that at 263 nm. The sample analysis time for both methods was about the same (10 min). The development of an HPCE method will allow the measurement of PTX at low concentrations in small sample volumes, which was not possible by HPLC. PTX consists of a long aliphatic, partially unsaturated chain with interspersed cyclic ether, 41 hydroxyl groups, 64 chiral centers and its successful synthesis was recently achieved. Human fatalities due to ingestion of the sea food containing palytoxin-like toxin were reported. The molecular mechanism of palytoxin is still unknown, but it impairs the function of smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and neuronal cells. Reprints.