Florida puffer fish8/17/2023 The fugu sashimi plating is generally made to resemble a chrysanthemum flower. Nigiri is one way in which sushi can be served, resting a slice of fish on a compact block of rice. Tending to be served as sashimi, however, pufferfish can also be brought to the table in the form of nigiri or fried. So-called fugu is considered a typically Japanese delicacy. Throughout this time, the individual remains conscious. The onset of paralysis, with cardiorespiratory failure, is the last vital phase, usually within 4-6 hours of ingestion. Other symptoms due to poisoning may include nausea, vomiting, and headache. Then paresthesia of the face and body extremities, shortness of breath and tinnitus (ringing sensations in the ears) set in. The first symptom of tetrodotoxin poisoning is numbness of the tongue and lips, which appears about 20 minutes after consumption. In comparison, sodium remains bound for no more than 1 nanosecond. The binding between TTX and the channel site is very strong, being able to last as long as 10 seconds Specifically, the venom blocks the neuronal action potential mechanism, preventing the passage of sodium and subsequent depolarization. The effect of tetrodotoxin is through its binding to sodium channels located on cell membranes, inactivating them. In addition, since it is a thermostable molecule, even cooking would not diminish the effect of the toxin on humans. The only possible treatment is gastric lavage, to be performed immediately, with administration of activated charcoal, which binds the toxic molecules. To date, there is still no effective antidote. It has been estimated that in humans it takes only 1 to 4 mg of venom to meet certain death.įor comparison, cyanide has an LD50 value of 8.5 mg per kg, hundreds of times as much. The average lethal dose (LD50) of tetrodotoxin in mice is 334 μg per kg. However, this idea will be refuted by the scientific community of the time, as the effects of poison are different from those described. The farmer claimed to have been turned into a zombie by a bokor, only to be forced to serve him in the following years.ĭavis tried to explain the process of apparent death by the effects of tetrodotoxin, speculating that, in low doses, it causes the same symptoms reported by Clairvius. The myth became known mostly as a result of Edmund Wade Davis’ accounts of the events of Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian farmer who was declared dead on May 2, 1962, and reappeared on the same island in 1980. The bokor is a voodoo sorcerer devoted to black magic, particularly important in the process of zombification. In fact, it appears that tetrodotoxin is present in numerous recipes used by Haitian bokors. In fact, the consumption of puffer fish was banned both under the Tokugawa family and during the Meiji period, roughly from 1600 until the early 1900s.Įven today, it is also forbidden by law for the emperor to consume fugu for his own safety.Īccording to legend, it is not only the Japanese who use pufferfish venom. In fact, the earliest evidence of consumption in Japanese cuisine dates back to the Jōmon period, more than 2,000 years ago.įugu has remained a typical dish throughout Japanese history, with some periods of hiatus. The use of pufferfish for food purposes dates back to antiquity. There is also a fair amount of TTX in the skin, while it is hardly present in the flesh. The most contaminated areas are mainly internal organs such as the liver, ovaries and intestines. The concentration of toxin within pufferfish varies in different compartments. Through natural selection, these animals would have evolved to become immune to tetrodotoxin and be able to live in symbiosis with the bacterial species. In fact, the toxin would be a product of bacterial metabolism by Vibrionaceae and Pseudomonas spp. What is special about all these species is that they contain similar bacterial families that are believed to be responsible for producing the poison. Other organisms in which it is found, especially of marine environment, include some octopuses, cuttlefish, starfish, crabs, toads and newts. The pufferfish family (the Tetraodontidae, from the Greek for “four teeth”), is certainly the best known, as well as the one from which it takes its name. In nature, numerous animals have tetrodotoxin The effects of this poison are deadly, with gradual paralysis and cardiorespiratory blockage.ĭespite this, fugu that contains a small dose of it is still cooked in Japan. The pufferfish family is not the only one in which we can find tetrodotoxin, also found in some octopuses and newts Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a neurotoxin known to be contained in pufferfish.
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