Damn, nature is efficient at producing new and innovative ways to kill,
Anatoxin-a, also known as Very Fast Death Factor (VFDF), is a secondary, bicyclic amine alkaloid and cyanotoxin with acute neurotoxicity. It was first discovered in the early 1960s in Canada, and was isolated in 1972. The toxin is produced by seven different genera of cyanobacteria and has been reported in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and New Zealand. Symptoms of anatoxin exposure include loss of coordination, muscular fasciculations, convulsions and death by respiratory paralysis. Its mode of action is through the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) where it acts as an agonist of acetylcholine. As such, anatoxin-a has been used for medicinal purposes to investigate diseases characterized by low acetylcholine levels. Due to its high toxicity and potential presence in drinking water, anatoxin-a poses a threat to animals, including humans.
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Despite the relatively low frequency of anatoxin-a relative to other cyanotoxins, its high toxicity (the lethal dose is not known for humans, but is estimated to be less than 5 mg for an adult male) means that it is still considered a serious threat to terrestrial and aquatic organisms, most significantly to livestock and to humans. Anatoxin-a is suspected to have been involved in the death of at least one person. The threat posed by anatoxin-a and other cyanotoxins is increasing as both fertilizer runoff, leading to eutrophication in lakes and rivers, and higher global temperatures contribute to a greater frequency and prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms.
