Okinawa, Japan

Distribution. The first indication of the occurrence of palytoxin in fish was presented in 1969 (16). The filefish Altera scripta belonging to family Monacathidae was traditionally known in Okinawa, Japan, to contain a toxic substance in the gut and, thus, to kill pigs when fed to them. The presence of fragments of Palythoa sp. in the guts and the resemblance in solubility between the fish toxin and palytoxin led the authors to a conclusion that the toxic principle in the filefish viscera was palytoxin. Incidence of human intoxication due to eating the filefish was not confirm. ... 

Residents of Okinawa, Japan, who eat small portions of Sardina, Italy, who drink red wine and of Loma Linda, California, who eat nuts and beans, live longer, are healthier than anyone else on earth (Buettner, 2005), and have some form of spirtual faith. Herbal medicines have been used effectively by ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Hebrew, Indian, Japanese, and Persian cultures in their arts of healing and in sustaining life. 

Oomori T Kaneshima K. and Kitano Y. (1988) Solubilities of calcite, aragonite and protodolomite in supratidal brines of Minamidaito-Jima Island, Okinawa, Japan. Mar. Chem. 25, 57-74. 

Miyake, Y., Arakawa, M., Tanaka, K., Sasaki, S., and Ohya, Y. 2008. Tuberculin reactivity and allergic disorders in schoolchildren, Okinawa, Japan. Clin Exp Allergy 38 388-392. 

Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F., and Field, C.D. (eds.) (1997) World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 

N. Ishizuka H. Tateba 0. Nishimura Y. Machii Y. Okamoto, Proceedings of the 37th Symposium on the Chemistry of Terpenes, Essential Oils, and Aromatics, Okinawa, Japan, 27-28 November 1993 Organizing Committee of 37th TEAC Okinawa, pp 221-222... 

Cucurbitacin is a bitter-tasting principle that can be isolated from members of the family Cucurbitaceae, such as cucumber Cucumis sativus) and melon (Cucumis melo L.). In particular, cucurbitacin149 and momordicine,150 which have an intensely bitter taste, are contained abundantly in Momordica charantia (bitter melon in English, go-yaa in Okinawa, Japan), which people enjoy due to its bitterness. There are more than 18 kinds of cucurbitacin, and among them cucurbitacin B is a typical component. It has been reported that cucurbitacin exhibits anticancer activity.1 1 In addition, it is used for the treatment of hepatic disease in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also found in some herbal teas. 

Okinawa National College of Technology Okinawa, Japan... 

Taisuke Hamada Department of Bioresources Engineering, Okinawa National College of Technology, Okinawa, Japan... 

O. siamensis was first characterized as a toxin producer by Nakajima et al. (1981). Some years later, Yasumoto et al. (1987) and Holmes et al. (1988) reported the lethafity and haemolytic activity of the O. siamensis toxins. Usami et al. (1995) were the first to elucidate the structure of the major ostreocin produced by O. siamensis (strain SOA 1 from Aka island, Okinawa, Japan) and point out its structural and chemical properties resemblance to palytoxin. This major constituent was named ostreocin-D and accounted for 90% of total toxicity of extracts. None of the other (more than 10) minor ostreocins present in the O. siamensis extracts were identical to palytoxin, as initially indicated by ESl-MS (Ukena et al. 2001, 2002). New Zealand O. siamensis isolates have also been reported to produce toxins exhibiting strong haemolytic activity and mouse lethality (Rhodes et al. 2000, 2002). Recently, Penna et al. (2005) have reported the presence of toxins with strong delayed haemolytic activity in Ostreopsis cf siamensis from the NW Mediterranean Sea. This haemolytic activity was inhibited by the palytoxin antagonist ouabain, indicating the palytoxin-like nature of these toxins. 

O. ovata from Okinawa, Japan, produced a butanol-soluble compound which was lethal to mice (Nakajima et al. 1981) this was later confirmed by Yasumoto et al. (1987), who also detected slight haemolytic activity in the O. ovata cell extracts. On the other hand, crude methanol extracts of O. ovata from the Virgin Islands were found to be nontoxic to mice (Tindall et al. 1990). Summer blooms of O. ovata in the Italian coasts have been coimected to respiratory problems in swimmers and sunbathers, most probably through inhalation of toxic aerosols (Sansoni et al. 2003 Simoni et al. 2003, 2004) such problems could possibly arise from inhalation of a palytoxin-like substance (Paddle 2003). Finally, extracts of O. ovata from Brazil and the Mediterranean Sea contained substances exhibiting strong delayed haemolysis, inhibited by ouabain, and mouse lethality with symptoms typical of palytoxin (Graneli et al. 2002 Riobo et al. 2004 Penna et al. 2005). 

Garigan, T. (1996). Medical treatment of chemical warfare casualties. Accessed May 15, 2006. Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians. Okinawa, Japan (available from URL http www.usalp. org/ op med/ fieldcl inical/chemcascare. html). 

Kawakami, F. (1996) Import prohibited article and system of lifting import bans in Japan and procedures of disinfestation technology development tests. In Textbook for Vapour Heat Disinfestation Test Technicians. Japan Fumigation Technology Association and Okinawa International Center, Naha, Okinawa, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo, pp. 10-13. 

The Foreign Military Sales Act prohibited the transportation of U.S. chemical weapons from Okinawa, Japan, to the continental U.S. The weapons were moved to Johnston Atoll. 

A recent investigation of the Pacific ophiuroid Ophiolepis superte, collected at Okinawa, Japan, has led to the isolation of seven new sulphated polyhydroxysteroids (254 - 260) (Fig. 24), all with 3a,21-disulphoxy-4a-hydroxy substituents and the A/B cis ring junction (9). The 3a,4a,21-triol-... 

La Jolla, CA, USA), T. Yasumoto (Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan) and T. Higa (University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan) for their help during our work. 

Palytoxin has been isolated to date in numerous areas of the world both from zoanthids belonging to the genus Palythoa and in other species. Moore and Scheuer [3] first reported the isolation of palytoxin from the Hawaiian zoanthid Palythoa toxica, while 1 year later, it was also isolated from Palythoa tuberculosa in tropical Pacific waters of Okinawa, Japan [8]. Since then, palytoxin and its congeners have been found in P. vestitus from Hawaii [9], P. mammilosa [10] and P. caribaeorum... 

Nakajima et al. [67] were the first to characterize 0. siamensis as a toxin producer. The lethality and hemolytic activity of the O. siamensis toxins was reported some years later [80,84]. Usami et al. [23] first elucidated the structme of the major ostreocin produced by 0. siamensis (strain SOA 1 from Aka island, Okinawa, Japan) and pointed out its structural and chemical properties resemblance to palytoxin. This major constituent, accounting for 90% of the total extracts toxicity. 

Paralytic toxicity was detected in a red calcareous alga Jania sp. from Okinawa, Japan and Gambier Islands, French Polynesia (Kotaki et al., 1983 Yasumoto et al, 1989). The highest toxin concentration was 44 ppb. The Okinawa Jania sp. contained anhydroTTX as the major toxin, along with TTX and 4-e/uTTX as the minor, while the French one showed TTX as the major toxin. In the above red alga, TTX content is very low and therefore its origin may come from TTX-contaminated bacterium. 

Khora, S.S., Isa, J., and Yasumoto, T. 1991. Toxicity of puffers from Okinawa, Japan. Nippon Suisan GakkaisUSl, 163-167. 

FIGURE 34.1 Structure of symbioimine. Symbioimine, an amphoteric iminium compound, was isolated from symbiotic algae of the marine acoel flatworm Amphiscolops sp. which was collected at Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. 

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