Twenty-three specimens of a tree-frog Polypedates sp. were collected from t
wo locations (Mymensingh and Barisal) of Bangladesh in 1999, and assayed fo
r their toxicity scores and toxin principle. Among the tissues, only the sk
in of the Mymensingh specimens was found to be toxic in mouse test, with th
e toxicity scores of 31-923 MU/g. The toxin isolated from the skin was anal
yzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, electrospray ionization-tim
e of flight mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance, and ch
aracterized as tetrodotoxin, a toxin principle. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science L
td. All rights reserved.