background: foodborne botulism (fbb) is a rare paralyzing disease caused by ingestion of foods contaminated with botulinum neurotoxin (bont). it is still a health concern in many countries. this study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fbb in west azerbaijan province, iran. methods: botulism surveillance data of the health deputy of urmia medical sciences university, northwestern iran was...

Background: Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) complexes consist of neurotoxin and neurotoxin-associated proteins. Hemagglutinin-33 (HA-33) is a member of BoNT type A (BoNT/A) complex. Considering the protective role of HA-33 in preservation of BoNT/A in gastrointestinal harsh conditions and also its adjuvant role, recombinant production of this protein is favorable. Thus in this study, HA-33 was expr...

The action of botulinum neurotoxin on acetylcholine release, and on the structural changes at the presynaptic membrane associated with the transmitter release, was studied by using a subcellular fraction of cholinergic nerve terminals (synaptosomes) isolated from the Torpedo electric organ. Acetylcholine and ATP release were continuously monitored by chemiluminescent methods. To catch the membr...

OBJECTIVE Eosinophil-associated proteins, especially eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, may be important contributors to the neurologic pathology and symptoms caused by Baylisascaris procyonis infection. METHODS Two cases of severe B procyonis encephalitis with evidence of marked eosinophil degranulation in the central nervous system are presented. Serial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were ...

In the present study, BmK alphaIV, a novel modulator of sodium channels, was cloned from venomous glands of the Chinese scorpion (Buthus martensi Karsch) and expressed successfully in Escherichia coli. The BmK alphaIV gene is composed of two exons separated by a 503 bp intron. The mature polypeptide contains 66 amino acids. BmK alphaIV has potent toxicity in mice and cockroaches. Surface-plasmo...

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD.) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. There are many documents about the effects of oxidative stress on PD. progress. Angiotensin II activates NADPH depending on oxidases and these oxidases produce superoxides. Cerasus avium extract is an angiotensin converting enzyme )ACE( inhibitor in Invitro. Objective: Evaluation of neuroprotective eff...

Clostridium botulinum type E neurotoxin, a single-chain protein of Mr 147,000, was purified and subjected to amino acid sequencing. The same was done for single-chain botulinum type B neurotoxin (Mr 152,000), and for the heavy and light chains (Mr 104,000 and 51,000 respectively) derived from type B by limited trypsin digestion. Twelve to eighteen residues were identified and the following conc...

0022-2836/$ see front matter q 2004 E Present address: J. Gu, San Diego Center, University of California San Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Abbreviations used: HA, hemagg non-toxic non-hemagglutinin; BoNT neurotoxin; NAP, neurotoxin-associ root-mean-square deviation; TeNT, E-mail address of the correspond [email protected] The hemagglutinating protein HA33 from Clostridium botulinum is assoc...