A significant number of bacteria, including the emerging multidrug-resistant “superbugs,” such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium difficile, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, secrete highly potent exotoxins with no antitoxins currently available to disable them. Several bacterial toxins, such as the botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) of Clostridium botulinum, can be aerosolized and used...

Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a powerful neurotoxin which blocks cholinergic transmission at the neuromuscular junction. Judiciously applied, it can reduce local muscle overactivity while maintaining the strength in other muscles. To date BTX has not been licensed for use in spasticity in the UK and the literature pertaining to clinical practice is still relatively scant. However, controlled trials ...

To determine whether the potency of botulinum toxin A (BTA) decreases after being reconstituted with normal saline and stored in refrigerator, we injected one side of the extensor digitorum brevis muscle with 2.5 units of botulinum toxin A that had been immediately reconstituted with saline, and the contralateral side with identical material that had been reconstituted and stored in a refrigera...

OBJECTIVE In recent years there has been an increasing use of the botulinum neurotoxins for the management of conditions characterised by detrusor overactivity. Early studies showed promising results in an area where few options previously existed between pharmacotherapy and surgery. This has led to an urgent need to assess the wide range of techniques and therapies available, as well as the ef...

We studied the safety and efficacy of 0 U, 50 U, 100 U, 150 U (five sites), 86 Usub and 100 Usub (three sites) botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA; BOTOX); Allergan, Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) for the prophylaxis of chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Three hundred patients (62.3% female; mean age 42.6 years) enrolled. For the primary endpoint, the mean change from baseline in the number of TTH-free da...

The authors evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) in poststroke spasticity patients who completed a 12-week placebo-controlled study and received multiple open-label treatments with 200 to 240 U BTX-A for 42 weeks. Significant and sustained improvements were observed for Disability Assessment and Ashworth scores. Adverse events were generally mild. This e...

We report the case of a 49-year-old woman who has the rare combination of myasthenia gravis and cervical dystonia. She was treated with botulinum toxin type A with good response and no evidence of deterioration of the myasthenic symptoms. We therefore conclude that it is possible to use botulinum toxin in the presence of defective neuromuscular transmission.