Toxin News and Research

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Mycolactone activation of N-WASP boosts Buruli ulcer formation

Mycobacterium ulcerans infects the skin and subcutaneous tissues and secretes a lipid toxin, mycolactone, which causes open skin lesions, known as Buruli ulcers.

18 Mar 2013

Anti-cancer drug conjugates: an interview with Dr Andreas Menrad, CSO Ablynx and Dr Chris Martin, CEO Spirogen

Antibodies and in the case of Ablynx, Nanobodies, can be raised and selected to bind with high affinity selectively to cancer cells in a tumour. Cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to certain toxins such as the PBDs produced by Spirogen.

12 Mar 2013

Melittin-loaded nanoparticles can destroy human immunodeficiency virus

Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown.

8 Mar 2013

Study now tells physicians that dystonia can occur in African-American patients

A pair of studies tells the tale of how a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Florida helped to discover the first African-American family to have inherited the rare movement disorder dystonia, which causes repetitive muscle contractions and twisting, resulting in abnormal posture.

7 Mar 2013

Drugs that inhibit buildup of acylcarnitines may block axonal degeneration

Anyone whose hand or foot has "fallen asleep" has an idea of the numbness and tingling often experienced by people with peripheral nerve damage. The condition also can cause a range of other symptoms, including unrelenting pain, stinging, burning, itching and sensitivity to touch.

6 Mar 2013

Microcystins in drinking water

An interview with Rohan Thakur, discussing the prevalence of microcystins in drinking water, and the use of LC-MS to identify cyanotoxins within water samples.

From Bruker Daltonics 5 Mar 2013

Scientists discover enzyme regulation that catalyzes chain elongation in the terpenoid pathway

Max Planck scientists in Jena, Germany, have discovered an unusual regulation of enzymes that catalyze chain elongation in an important secondary metabolism, the terpenoid pathway.

2 Mar 2013

Signaling pathway might determine genetic susceptibility for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading preventable cause of developmental disorders in developed countries. And fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a range of alcohol-related birth defects that includes fetal alcohol syndrome, is thought to affect as many as 1 in 100 children born in the United States.

21 Feb 2013

Researchers call for botulism testing in sick and healthy cows

Evidence of Clostridium botulinum and its toxin in milk and udder tissue samples from dairy cows has led German researchers to call for “statistically relevant testing of healthy and sick cows from healthy and affected farms.”

14 Feb 2013

Microbiologists discover new pathway to improve vaccines against tuberculosis

A new pathway for improving vaccines against tuberculosis has been discovered by microbiologists at the University at Buffalo in collaboration with researchers at other universities, according to a paper in the journal Mucosal Immunology, published by the Nature group.

1 Feb 2013

Botulinum toxin A does not promote weight loss in obese patients

Despite conflicting data in support of the practice, some overweight Americans looking for an easy fix have turned to gastric botox injections to help them lose weight. This month in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, researchers from the Mayo Clinic publish a definitive study finding that Botox doesn't promote weight loss.

29 Jan 2013

Temple scientists to solve long-standing mystery in sepsis

Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine are inching closer to solving a long-standing mystery in sepsis, a complex and often life-threatening condition that affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. every year.

28 Jan 2013

Botox relieves plantar fasciitis pain

Botulinum toxin A may be more effective than steroids for the treatment of plantar fasciitis, research suggests.

25 Jan 2013

Botulinum toxin A more effective than intralesional steroids in treating plantar fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is the most frequent cause of chronic heel pain, leaving many sufferers unable to put their best foot forward for months at a time. Now a Mexican study suggests that physicians should turn to Botox rather than steroids to offer patients the fastest road to recovery.

18 Jan 2013

Repeated toxin treatment sustains benefits in incontinence patients

Repeated treatment with onabotulinumtoxinA consistently reduces urinary incontinence episodes in patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity, show findings from an extension study of Phase III trials.

7 Jan 2013

Link between Parkinson's and benomyl

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram - common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere - have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

6 Jan 2013

Toxin-induced insulin resistance combated in mice

French researchers have found that a protein-bound uremic toxin, p-cresyl sulfate, contributes to the development of insulin resistance in mice, providing a new potential therapeutic target for treating chronic kidney disease, they say.

4 Jan 2013

Targeting PCS may help improve health of patients with chronic kidney disease

Insulin resistance, or prediabetes, in individuals with kidney disease may be caused by the progressive retention of certain compounds that are normally excreted by the kidneys in healthy individuals, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

21 Dec 2012

Researcher explores new PCR system to discover dangerous foodborne pathogens

Pina Fratamico is on the quest to find the easiest and fastest way to test for harmful Escherichia coli in ground beef. In an article published in Frontiers in Microbiology on the 20th of December, she explores using a next-generation real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to discover specific gene targets that indicate the presence of dangerous foodborne pathogens. The results show that assays performed using this PCR system are rapid, sensitive, and reliable.

20 Dec 2012

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Promising new research provides evidence that ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be treatable using neural stem cells.

20 Dec 2012