A型ボツリヌス毒素

プロパティ

安全情報

説明

Botulism, a disease of the nervous system in animals and humans, was first recorded in Germany in 1735 and was thought to be due to eating a tainted sausage. The name botulism comes from the German ‘botulus’ for sausage. Botulinum toxin (molecular weight of 100 000, consisting of 1300 amino acids) is derived from Clostridium botulinum – an anaerobic spore-forming gram-positive bacterium commonly found in soil. It can affect a wide range of animals, including mammals, fish, and birds. There are seven serological varieties of botulism denoted by the letters A–G. They are structurally similar but antigenically and serologically unique. Only the botulism types A, B, E, and F can cause toxicity in humans. Types C and D can cause toxicity in animals. From 1990 to 2000, the US Centers for Disease Control documented 263 individual cases from 160 foodborne botulism events in the United States; 4% of these resulted in fatality and 103 of these cases occurred in Alaska. They were due to traditional Alaska aboriginal foods, including the ingestion of raw whale fat or muktuk. While the numbers of cases of foodborne botulism and infant botulism are stable, the incidence of wound botulism has increased due to the use of black tar heroin. California has reported the majority of cases of wound botulism associated with tar heroin use.