Occurrence of tetrodotoxin in the skin of a rhacophoridid frog Polypedatessp from Bangladesh

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.