| Autor: |
Mayers, Carl N., Holley, Jane L., Brooks, Tim |
| Zdroj: |
Reviews in Medical Microbiology; January 2001, Vol. 12 Issue: 1 p29-37, 9p |
| Abstrakt: |
Botulinum toxin is the most toxic substance known to mankind. It is involved in infant botulism, classical food-borne botulism, wound botulism, and is a threat in biological warfare or bioterrorism. The only successful drug currently available to treat botulinum intoxication is equine antitoxin, and there is potential for much improvement of this product. This review discusses the factors that could be changed to improve the safety and efficacy of botulinum antitoxins. The host species could be changed from horses to other animals such as sheep or goats, in order to lower the immunogenicity of the antiserum. The choice of immunogen is extremely important in improving the potency of the product. Fractionation of the antitoxin and affinity purification are two further ways in which the safety and potency of the product could be increased. The current botulinum antitoxin assay has a lethal endpoint, and several more humane assays for antitoxin are discussed. The dosing level for botulinum antitoxin is excessively high when the amount of toxin involved in intoxication is so small. Optimising the dosage of antitoxin would further improve the safety of the product. The therapeutic window of the current product is also discussed, along with potential mechanisms of increasing the therapeutic window. |
| Databáze: |
Supplemental Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
