tetrodotoxin – distribution and accumulation in aquatic organisms, and cases of human intoxication河豚毒素u2014u2014分布和积累在水生生物,人类中毒的病例.pdf

Mar. Drugs 2008, 6, 220-242; DOI: 10.3390/m OPEN ACCESS Marine Drugs ISSN 1660-3397 /marinedrugs Review Tetrodotoxin – Distribution and Accumulation in Aquatic Organisms, and Cases of Human Intoxication Tamao Noguchi 1,* and Osamu Arakawa 2 1 Tokyo Health Care University, 3-11-3, Setagaya, Tokyo 154-8568, Japan 2 Faculty of Fisheries, Nagasaki University, 1-14, Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan E-mails: t-noguchi@thcu.ac.jp; arakawa@nagasaki-u.ac.jp * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Received: 23 December 2007; in revised form: 24 March 2008 / Accepted: 8 April 2008 / Published: 28 May 2008 Abstract: Many pufferfish of the family Tetraodontidae possess a potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX). In marine pufferfish species, toxicity is generally high in the liver and ovary, whereas in brackish water and freshwater species, toxicity is higher in the skin. In 1964, the toxin of the California newt was identified as TTX as well, and since then TTX has been detected in a variety of other organisms. TTX is produced primarily by marine bacteria, and pufferfish accumulate TTX via the food chain that begins with these bacteria. Consequently, pufferfish become non-toxic when they are fed TTX-free diets in an environment in which the invasion of TTX-bearing organisms is completely shut off. Although some researchers claim that the TTX of amphibians is endogenous, we believe that it also has an exogenous origin, i.e., from organisms consu