Search results for "toxin"
showing 10 items of 1434 documents
Alternaria Mycotoxins in Food and Feed: An Overview
2017
Alternariais one of the major mycotoxigenic fungal genera with more than 70 reported metabolites.Alternariamycotoxins showed notably toxicity, such as mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, induction of DNA strand break, sphingolipid metabolism disruption, or inhibition of enzymes activity and photophosphorylation. This review reports on the toxicity, stability, metabolism, current analytical methods, and prevalence ofAlternariamycotoxins in food and feed through the most recent published research. Half of the publications were focused on fruits, vegetables, and derived products—mainly tomato and apples—while cereals and cereal by-products represented 38%. The most studied compounds were alternario…
Changes of ICE protease activities caused by toxic supernatants of dinoflagellates (Prorocentrum species) from marine algal blooms
1999
Summary Marine phytotoxins may become a major health problem for humans because of their ability to contaminate seafood and to cause shellfish poisoning. In this report, the cytotoxic effects and the effects on intracellular caspase activities of culture supernatants from different dinoflagellate Prorocentrum clones were determined. Among the clones tested, P. tepsium BAH ME-140 and P. lima BAH ME-130 K1 and K2 clones but not P. minimum and P. micans were found to be toxic on rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, mouse lymphoma L5178Y cells and rat primary neurons. A significant increase in the specific activities of caspase 1 (ICE), caspase 3 (CPP32) and caspase 6 (Mch2) to 149–167% was observe…
DNA strand break induction, mutagenicity, and cytotoxicity of the mycotoxins 11-β-hydroxy-7-deoxy-rosenonolactone, rosenonolactone, and trichothecin.
1992
11-β-hydroxy-7-deoxy-rosenonolactone (TSS1), a mycotoxin of the rosenane class, was tested on cytotoxicity, induction of DNA single strand breaks and muta-genicity. Its effects were compared to those of rosenonolactone and trichothecin. TSS1 had stronger antibiotic activity againstEscherichia coli (EC 50: 10μg/mL) than rosenonolactone (EC 50: >200μg/mL) but weaker activity than trichothecin (EC 50: 3μg/mL). The same order of activity was found for the inhibition of yeast fermentation (EC 50 of TSS1: 45μg/mL; EC 50 of rosenonolactone: > 120μg/mL; EC 50 of trichothecin: 3.4μg/mL). In the trypan blue exclusion test using V79 Chinese hamster cells, TSS1 proved to be cytotoxic (EC50: 30μg/mL) at…
Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin attack on human platelets promotes assembly of the prothrombinase complex.
1990
alpha-Toxin, the major cytolysin of Staphylococcus aureus, promotes blood coagulation by its attack on human platelets (Bhakdi S., Muhly, M., Mannhardt, U., Hugo, F., Klapettek, K., Mueller-Eckhardt, C., and Roka, L. (1988) J. Exp. Med. 168, 527-542). In the present study we demonstrate that toxin attack on gel-filtered human platelets initiates the assembly of prothrombinase complexes at rates up to 10-fold of controls. Treatment of platelets with 0.1 microgram/ml alpha-toxin resulted in generation of 1.4 units of thrombin/10(8) platelets. A similar rate of thrombin generation was noted when platelets were subjected to three cycles of freezing and thawing. However, the alpha-toxin-induced …
Biochemical and toxigenic properties of Vibrio furnissii isolated from a European eel farm
1995
Abstract The present study describes for the first time the isolation of Vibrio furnissii strains from a European eel culture system which are pathogenic for eels ( Anguilla anguilla ) (LD 50 dose, 10 6 cfu/fish). Biochemical characterization of the isolates was performed by API 20E system and by classical numerical taxonomy. Growth at 4 °C, and with 6–8% (w/v) NaCl in a broth medium were necessary to differentiate Vibrio furnissii from Aeromonas species when the API 20E system was used. Virulence for eels of V. furnissii isolates was demonstrated by intraperitoneal injection of living cells. The extracellular products (ECPs) produced by V. furnissii were lethal to elvers and induced some o…
Toxicity of the extracellular products ofVibrio damsela isolated from diseased fish
1993
In this work we analyzed the pathogenic in vivo and in vitro activities for both fish and mammals of extracellular products (ECP) of several isolates of Vibrio damsela implicated in disease problems in marine culture. The ECP from all the strains were strongly lethal for fish (LD50 ranging from 0.06 to 3.7 μg protein/g fish) and mice (LD50 ranging from 0.02 to 0.43 μg protein/g mouse), causing death between 4 and 72 h after inoculation. These ECP samples possessed low proteolytic activity without production of caseinase, gelatinase, or elastase. However, most of them showed remarkable phospholipase and hemolytic activity for sheep, human, and turbot red blood cells. In addition, all the ECP…
Potentiation of the cytotoxic activity of copper by polyphosphate on biofilm-producing bacteria: A bioinspired approach
2012
Adhesion and accumulation of organic molecules represent an ecologically and economically massive problem. Adhesion of organic molecules is followed by microorganisms, unicellular organisms and plants together with their secreted soluble and structure-associated byproducts, which damage unprotected surfaces of submerged marine structures, including ship hulls and heat exchangers of power plants. This is termed biofouling. The search for less toxic anti-biofilm strategies has intensified since the ban of efficient and cost-effective anti-fouling paints, enriched with the organotin compound tributyltin, not least because of our finding of the ubiquitous toxic/pro-apoptotic effects displayed b…
The role of mycotoxins in neurodegenerative diseases: current state of the art and future perspectives of research
2021
Abstract Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites that can cause various diseases in humans and animals. The adverse health effects of mycotoxins such as liver failure, immune deficiency, and cancer are well-described. However, growing evidence suggests an additional link between these fungal metabolites and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the wealth of these initial reports, reliable conclusions are still constrained by limited access to human patients and availability of suitable cell or animal model systems. This review summarizes knowledge on mycotoxins associated with neurodegenerative diseases and the assumed underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The limitations of the common in vivo…
A Controlled Trial of Two Acellular Vaccines and One Whole-Cell Vaccine against Pertussis
1996
Background Concern about both safety and efficacy has made the use of whole-cell pertussis vaccines controversial. In some European countries, including Italy, the rate of vaccination against pertussis is low. Methods We conducted a double-blind trial in Italy in which infants were randomly assigned to vaccination at two, four, and six months of age with an acellular pertussis vaccine together with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (DTP); a DTP vaccine containing whole-cell pertussis (manufactured by Connaught Laboratories); or diphtheria and tetanus toxoids without pertussis (DT). The acellular DTP vaccine was either one containing filamentous hemagglutinin, pertactin, and pertussis toxin ina…
Recent advances in the application of innovative food processing technologies for mycotoxins and pesticide reduction in foods
2020
Abstract Background Agricultural products are a vital component of the human diet. However, these products can be contaminated by health-threatening pesticides and mycotoxins due to improper farming and storage practices. Besides, pesticide pollution can be also regarded as environmental pollution and pesticide reduction is among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While these hazardous chemicals are stable during several traditional food processing, innovative food processing technologies, including high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), cold plasma (CP), supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2), and ultrasound (USN) processing, have been found to have good potent…