Pufferfish poisoning: emergency diagnosis and management of mild human tetrodotoxication.

A 45-year-old man ate the liver of the toxic pufferfish (Diodron hystrix) and developed mild tetrodotoxication consisting of hyperemesis, bradycardia, hypotension, generalized numbness, and a generalized paresis. He was treated with atropine, normal saline IV infusions, nasogastric suction, and oxygen, and he recovered after six days.

Behavioral effects of aluminum ingestion on animal and human subjects.

Abnormally high brain aluminum concentrations have been detected in hemodialysis patients who died of an unexplained encephalopathy. As a result, this study was undertaken to examine whether the ingestion of aluminum produces behavioral aberrations in non-dialysed human subjects and rats with ostensibly normal renal function. Rats were fed AlCl3 by intubation in varying doses, and tests measuring learning ability, visual temporal acuity, motor coordination and activity were administered.