Puffer fish

Other Lethal Agents. There are a number of substances, many found in nature, which are known to be more toxic than nerve agents (6). None has been weaponized. Examples of these toxic natural products include shellfish poison, isolated from toxic clams puffer fish poison, isolated from the viscera of the puffer fish the active principle of curare "heart poisons" of the digitaUs type the active principle of the sea cucumber active principles of snake venom and the protein ricin, obtained from castor beans (See Castor oil). 

Tetrodotoxin is one of the most powerful non-protein neurotoxins known. It occurs in the liver and ovaries of the Japanese puffer fish, Sphoerides rubripes and S. phyreus, and its lethal effects have been known for centuries, although it was isolated in crystalline form... 

Hedges SB, Kumar S Vertebrate genomes compared. Science 2002 297 1283. (The same issue—No. 5585, August 23— contains a draft version of the genome of the tiger puffer fish.)... 

With respect to toxins which target specific sites, insight can be obtained from the anomolies that are observed. For example, both puffer fish and tetrodotoxin-containing crabs (96) are insensitive to tetrodotoxin. The investigation of such insensitivities can provide information about membrane channels and their toxin binding sites. 

Rapid-acting neurotoxin that inhibits sodium-ion channels in neural and muscular tissue. It does not affect the neuromuscular junction. It is colorless crystals or a white powder that is obtained from puffer fish (Arothron sp.), frogs, newts, dinoflagellates (Takifugu poecilonotus), and bacteria (Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis). It is heat stable but darkens on heating above... 

Public materials standards, 25 743 Public, protection of, 22 827-828 Public sanitation, soap and, 22 755, 756 Public sector aquaculture, 3 182-183 Public Utilities Commission, 6 828 Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), 22 533-534 PUC19 plasmid vector, 22 501, 502 Puccinnia chondrillina, 13 347 Puffer fish poison, 5 822 Puffing, 22 722, 740... 

Media measured Bivalves, puffer fish Bivalves Bivalves Bivalves Bivalves Reef fish, coelenterates... 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Neurologic illness associated with eating puffer fish, MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep., 51, 15, 321, 2002. 

Kanchanapongkul, J. and Tantraphon, W., Pelagic paralysis from puffer fish poisoning, J. Med. Assoc. Thai., 76, 5, 285, 1993. 

Tetrodotoxin Puffer fish (fugu) Nervous system... 

Puffer fish Fugu spp. Tetrodotoxin (found in Vibrio, Pseudomonas spp.) Alkaloid Predators. Local anesthetic (5-30 minutes) death in 6-24 hours (60% mortality)... 

Pioneering studies were made to determine the structure of tetrodotoxin 1, one of the most toxic compounds among the low-molecular-weight poisons, found in the ovaries and liver of puffer fish, which is a highly esteemed delicacy in Japan. With a combination of the most versatile instrumental facilities, the complex perhydroquinazoline structure of 1 was established (65T2059) in the early 1960s. 

Among the marine toxins relevant for human intoxication, tetrodotoxin (TTX) has been known as one of the most potent low-molecular weight neurotoxins. Puffer fish (family Tetraodontidae — the source of the TTX name) were originally thought to be the only animal from which TTX could be isolated. Subsequent works determined that TTX also exists in a large number of other marine organisms of different phylogenic classes e.g. 

A mouse bioassay method is useful for screening of the toxicity of various organisms from affected areas, although this method may not be sufficient for the identification of the toxin. Recently, distribution of tetrodotoxin in the marine ecosystem has expanded from puffer-fishes to some other animals. Rapid and accurate determination of the toxin occurring in those organisms is becoming increasingly important from the public health standpoint. 

The puffer fish is probably the best known neurotoxic fish. Several related species of fish, as well as other marine life, such as some frogs, starfish, octopus, and others, contain tetrodotoxin. Many people consider this fish a delicacy despite the occasional death from poor preparation. Tetrodotoxin is heat stable but water soluble, so careful preparation is necessary to limit neurological effects. Symptoms of poisoning include a rapid onset of numbness in the lips and mouth, which then extends to the fingers and toes, followed by general weakness, dizziness, and respiratory failure, leading to death. The mechanism of action is similar to that of saxitoxin and affects sodium channel permeability. 

Fish Puffer fish (fugu) blowfish, toadfish. . . some frogs, starfish, ocopus Tetrodotoxin Nervous system numbness, paralysis, respiratory failure, death Decreased sodium channel permeability... 

Lastly, tetrodotoxin, the Japanese puffer fish toxin, is a polyhydroxylated reduced 2-aminoquinazoline derivative that has attracted a lot of interest, and a number of asymmetric total syntheses have recently been published <2003JA8798, 2003JAl 1510, 2004AGE4782, 2005CRV4537>. 

---