Showing papers in "Toxicon in 2014"

TL;DR: Drug discovery and development is an inherently risky business, and the main causes of failure during development programmes are outlined in order to highlight steps that might be taken to increase the chances of success with toxin-based drug discovery.

TL;DR: A review of AMPs from the venoms of scorpions examines all classes found to date and gives details of their biological activities with reference to peptide structure, and suggests possible mechanisms of action of less well characterised peptides.

TL;DR: The objective of the present review is to provide insights into the brown spider venoms and loxoscelism based on recent results, including the biology of brown spiders, the clinical features of loxocelism and the diagnosis and therapy of brown spider bites.

TL;DR: The present review details the structure and pharmacology of known ant venom peptide toxins and their potential as a source of novel bioinsecticides and therapeutic agents.

TL;DR: The results document the first report on the occurrence of CYN and STX in freshwaters of Greece and show that potential STX producers are Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and further studies are needed to assess potential CYN producers.

TL;DR: This series of dystonia patients with the longest reported treatment with BoNT provide evidence that in selected patients repeated chemodenervation is associated with sustained symptomatic benefit, decreased latency effect, and prolonged duration of therapeutic response.

TL;DR: The cross-reactivity results showed that the anti-FB(1) mcAb excreted by 4G5 can be used to detect fumonisin B( 1) in corn and related samples.

TL;DR: Three other ana clusters have now been identified and sequenced in other cyanobacteria and show similarities and some differences suggesting a common evolutionary origin, and an extra gene coding for an F420-dependent oxidoreductase that is likely involved in the biosynthesis of dihydroanatoxin-a is discussed.

TL;DR: The varying contribution of Nhe and HBL to total cytotoxicity strongly indicates that Nhe as well as HBL specific B. cereus enterotoxin receptors exist and that toxicity is not restricted to gastrointestinal infections.

TL;DR: Results indicate that most scorpion stings involved only local manifestations, mainly pain; the greatest severity was associated with stings by T. serrulatus and in children <15 years old.

TL;DR: The risk for ciguatera poisoning in Europe is reviewed and characteristic symptoms, current knowledge about disease pathomechanisms and treatment options are highlighted to highlight the rising global incidence frequency of the disease.

TL;DR: Margatoxin (MgTx), an alpha-KTx scorpion toxin, is considered a selective inhibitor of the Kv1.3K + channel, but based on comprehensive data MgTX has to be considered a non-selective Kv 1.3 inhibitor, and thus, experiments aiming at elucidating the significance of Kv2.3 in in-vitro or in vivo physiological responses have to be carefully evaluated.

TL;DR: Quantitative transcriptomic analyses of venom and salivary glands and other body tissues in five species of reptile shows that the majority of genes used to support the establishment and expansion of the Toxicofera are in fact expressed in multiple body tissues and most likely represent general maintenance or "housekeeping" genes.

TL;DR: Interestingly, the fungus was not only able to inhibit Microcystis growth but also degraded microcystin produced by this cyanobacterium, suggesting this fungus could be a potential bioagent to selectively control MicrocyStis blooms and degrade microcyStin toxins.

TL;DR: This study showed the female parent of the Takifugu pufferfish vertically transfers TTX to the larvae through its accumulation in the ovaries, and subsequent localization on the body surface of the larvae.

TL;DR: The data support the assertion that prolonged exposure to BMAA may have played a role in the etiology of ALS in this patient and suggest that invertebrates collected in water where cyanobacterial blooms are present, if consumed, may result in direct human exposure to these neurotoxic amino acids.

TL;DR: People need to be trained and educated about venomous snakes, their hazards, prevention of bite and the importance of early hospital referral and treatment of victims, and adequate antivenins as the main life saving medicine should be made available based on the recorded numbers of victims in each area of the country.

TL;DR: By increasing these concentrations above the legal limits to OTA, FB1 and AFB1, cytotoxicity was observed with up to 26% reduction in cell viability and synergistic effects were evident with regard to mitochondrial integrity.

TL;DR: A number of studies have evaluated the in vitro biological activity of whole jellyfish venom or of purified fractions, and some toxins have been purified and characterized.

TL;DR: The results indicate that cyanobacterial water blooms are highly toxic to zooplankton (both acutely and chronically) at environmentally relevant concentrations, and point out the importance of other cyanob bacterial components such as lipopolysaccharides, various peptides and depsipeptides, polar alkaloid metabolites or other unidentified metabolites in the overall ecotoxicity of complex cyanobacteria blooms.

TL;DR: The results showed that DON and ZEN caused a marked decrease of cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, mediated by an activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic process; characterized by PTP opening and the loss of ΔΨm.

TL;DR: It was concluded that the most important physical effect caused by the venom is flaccid paralysis, which facilitates capture and subduing of prey regardless of whether it is alive; death is a logical consequence of the lack of oxygenation.

TL;DR: The present study indicates that the Kunitz-type protein complex Rusvikunin from Russell's Viper venom significantly contributes to venom toxicity, and an important biological role in venoms appears to be facilitation of prey subjugation.

TL;DR: The results indicate that elevated pCO₂ will have minor consequences for growth and elemental composition, but may potentially reduce the cellular toxicity of A. tamarense.

TL;DR: BjcuV induced an early onset edema dependent upon prostanoid production and neutrophil migration by increasing intracellular calcium and the direct chemotactic effect of BjcuV and the in vitro calcium dynamic in neutrophils were investigated.

TL;DR: Solid phase adsorbent and toxin tracking has the potential to provide useful information on phycotoxin distribution in the water column; enabling evidence-based decisions regarding appropriate depths for obtaining phytoplankton and shellfish samples in marine biotoxin monitoring programmes.

TL;DR: It is suggested that fish size cannot be used as an efficient predictor of fish toxicity in French Polynesia and the need for improving knowledge about metabolic processes which may play a role in CTXs bio-accumulation and depuration among the different trophic levels of fishes is highlighted.

TL;DR: This study has significantly extended the range of sorbents for passive sampling of marine toxins, and for the first time demonstrated the usefulness of the polymeric Oasis HLB and Strata-X sorbent materials in laboratory and field studies for various microalgal toxins.

TL;DR: The Ts venom showed proteolytic activity on fibrinogen and preferential cleavage close to the basic residues K and R, indicating that the venom from this scorpion predominantly consists of metalloproteases.

TL;DR: It is suggested that prompt local treatment of the stung epidermis with lidocaine, acetic acid, ethanol and ammonia may provide substantial pain relief and help in reducing possible harmful local and systemic adverse reaction following accidental contact with P. noctiluca specimens.