@techreport{oai:nagasaki-u.repo.nii.ac.jp:00015599,
 author = {Arakawa, Osamu and Hwang, Deng-Fwu and Taniyama, Shigeto and Takayani, Tomohiro},
 month = {},
 note = {Many marine pufferfish possess a potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX). In general, they have strong toxicity in the liver and ovary, leading to a frequent occurrence of human poisonings. TTX is originally produced by marine bacteria and distributes over a wide variety of aquatic animals. In pufferfish, TTX is derived from the food chain that consists of these TTXbearing organisms (i.e., their prey). The transfer, accumulation, and elimination mechanisms of TTX taken up into the pufferfish body via prey remain unclear. Recent studies have revealed that the liver of pufferfish has a specific TTXuptake mechanism, and TTX introduced into the pufferfish body is first absorbed in the liver and then transferred to the skin through the circulatory system. This inter-tissue transfer and accumulation of TTX are greatly affected by the state of maturation. TTX-bearing organisms show extremely high resistance to TTX, and seem to possess TTX as a biological defense mechanism. Furthermore, TTX may involved in the control of information transmission in the central nervous system of pufferfish. TTX poisonings due to small scavenging gastropods have so far occurred in Taiwan and China. Recently, one such gastropod, Nassarius glans, caused food poisoning incidents in Kyushu, Japan. N. glans is highly toxic, and possesses a large amount of TTX not only in the viscera but also in the muscle. After 1990, a total of 9 poisoning incidents due to ingestion of boxfish (pufferfish of the family Ostraciidae) occurred in southwestern Japan, involving 13 patients and 1 death. The symptoms are very similar to those of parrotfish poisoning (a unique variety of food poisoning that has sporadically occurred in Japan), suggesting that the causative substance is a palytoxin (PTX)-like toxin as in the parrotfish poisoning. Freshwater pufferfish and some marine pufferfish possess paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) instead of or in addition to TTX, and may cause ‘paralytic shellfish poisoning by pufferfish’. The toxins of the above mentioned fish and shellfish are all exogenous, and their toxicity may be greatly affected by a change in the marine environment, such as elevations in water temperature due to global worming. We need to enhance the information/collaboration network among East Asian countries and vigilantly monitor how our changing climate is affecting the toxicity and distributions of these organisms., Nagasaki University Major Research Project: Restoration of Marine Environment and Resources in East Asia, Coastal Environmental and Ecosystem Issues of the East China Sea ,pp.227-244; 2010},
 title = {Toxins of Pufferfish That Cause Human Intoxications},
 year = {2010}
}