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Toxins Relevant to Gastrointestinal Disorders

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Biological Toxins and Bioterrorism

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

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Abstract

Gastrointestinal diseases (GIDs) remain a major disease burden in both developing and developed countries worldwide. The major source of GI tract infection is through contaminated food and water. Food contamination, whether accidental or deliberate, can occur anywhere along the food processing line, from the source to the consumer. A number of viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens are involved in the causation of the GID. Infections of the GI tract can range from mild self-limiting diarrhea to severe life-threatening situations. Bacterial toxins secreted during the growth of bacteria have significant implications in eliciting diarrhea. Toxins may have different modus operandi and include those acting on the cell surface and those acting on the intracellular targets. Surface-acting ones may comprise toxins that act on the immune system (superantigens) and cell membranes and pore-forming toxins. Intracellular-acting toxins may constitute those acting on protein synthesis and signal transduction and cytoskeleton structure. Enzymatic toxins include those possessing ADP-ribosyltransferase activities.

Detection of these pathogens or toxins often requires multiple steps such as extraction, sample cleanup, or pre-concentration for toxins or multiple cultures for pathogens, prior to measurement, resulting in longer analysis times. Recent efforts in the development of a variety of immunobased diagnostic assays have reduced the analysis time without compromising the sensitivity, with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format being the most common.

In this chapter few selected toxins including superantigens, cholera toxins, Bacillus cereus toxins, C. perfringens enterotoxins, and Shiga-like toxins; clinical features; mode of action; and diagnostic methods are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Defence Medical & Environmental Research Institute (DMERI), DSO National Laboratories (Kent Ridge), Singapore, Singapore

    Ganapathy Rajaseger

  2. Technology Development, School of Applied Science, Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore, Singapore

    Padmanabhan Saravanan

Authors
  1. Ganapathy Rajaseger
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  2. Padmanabhan Saravanan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ganapathy Rajaseger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Venom and Toxin Research Programme, Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Medical Toxicology Research Centre Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Mahdi Balali-Mood

  3. Data and Technology Innovation, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Lyndon Llewellyn

  4. Botulinum Research Center, Institute of Advanced Sciences, Dartmouth, MA, USA

    Bal Ram Singh

  5. Prime Bio, Inc., Dartmouth, MA, USA

    Bal Ram Singh

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Rajaseger, G., Saravanan, P. (2015). Toxins Relevant to Gastrointestinal Disorders. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Balali-Mood, M., Llewellyn, L., Singh, B.R. (eds) Biological Toxins and Bioterrorism. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5869-8_33

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