BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Staphylococcal food poisoning is a gastrointestinal disease, which is caused by consumption of contaminated food with enterotoxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (SEs). Milk and its products are known sources of food borne diseases. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains in organic milk and cheese in Tabriz - Iran....

Food safety has attracted extensive attention around the world, and food-borne diseases have become one of the major threats to health. Staphylococcus aureus is a major food-borne pathogen worldwide and a frequent contaminant of foodstuffs. Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) produced by some S. aureus strains will lead to staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) outbreaks. The most common symptoms ca...

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen which is implicated in a wide variety of diseases. Major determinants of the virulence of this organism include extracellular virulence factors. Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are important causative agents in staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome and food poisoning. Our study identified a novel enterotoxin, SEK, and examined its biochemical...

Staphylococcal enterotoxins are potent activators for human T cells and cause lethal toxic shock. Rapamycin, an immunosuppressant, was tested for its ability to inhibit staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-induced activation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro and toxin-mediated shock in mice. Stimulation of PMBC by SEB was effectively blocked by rapamycin as evidenced by ...

A rapid reversed passive latex agglutination method that uses high-density latex particles for the detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) A to E was developed. It took 3 h for incubation, much less than the 16 h needed with a customary latex agglutination test for SE detection such as a commercial test kit (SET-RPLA; Denka Seiken Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The rapid test was shown to be hi...

Superantigens are toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus, called staphylococcal enterotoxins (abbreviated SEA to SEU). They can cross-link the T cell receptor (TCR) and major histocompatibility complex class II, triggering a massive T cell activation and hence disease. Due to high stability and toxicity, superantigens are potential agents of bioterrorism. Hence, antagonists may not only be us...

Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), a superantigen produced from Staphylococcus aureus, has been reported to bind directly to unknown receptor(s) and penetrate into non-immune cells but its function is unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that recombinant TSST-1 suppresses autophagosomal accumulation in the autophagic-induced HeLa 229 cells. This suppression is shared by a superantigenic-...

Staphylococcal enterotoxins are bacterial products that display superantigen activity in vitro as well as in vivo. For instance, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) polyclonally activates T cells that bear the Vbeta8 gene segment of the TCR. SEB-activated T cells undergo a burst of proliferation that is followed by apoptosis. Using an in vivo adaptation of a fluorescent cell division monitoring ...