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Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (commonly called botox), is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and related species. [24] It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction , thus causing flaccid paralysis . [ 25 ]
A neuromuscular junction (or myoneural junction) is a chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber. [1] It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction. [2] Muscles require innervation to function—and even just to maintain muscle tone, avoiding atrophy.
Botulinum toxins do not directly interact with SNAP, but indirectly impact its ability to assemble into the 20S complex leading to impaired synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction. The blocking of acetylcholine release onto the endplate leads to muscle paralysis and, if left untreated, death.
Common examples of neurotoxins include lead, [7] ethanol (drinking alcohol), [8] glutamate, [9] nitric oxide, [10] botulinum toxin (e.g. Botox), [11] tetanus toxin, [12] and tetrodotoxin. [6] Some substances such as nitric oxide and glutamate are in fact essential for proper function of the body and only exert neurotoxic effects at excessive ...
Botulinum toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum is the most powerful toxic protein. It prevents release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction by inhibiting docking of the neurotransmitter vesicles.
Neuromuscular junction diseases in this category include snake venom poisoning, botulism, arthropod poisoning, organophosphates and hypermagnesemia.(reference 13) Organophosphates are present in many insecticides and herbicides. They are also the basis of many nerve gases.(reference 27) Hypermagnesmia is a condition where the balance of ...
Along with some strains of Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium baratii, these bacteria all produce the toxin. [2] Botulinum toxin can cause botulism, a severe flaccid paralytic disease in humans and other animals, [3] and is the most potent toxin known to science, natural or synthetic, with a lethal dose of 1.3–2.1 ng/kg in humans. [4] [5]
Neurotoxicity is a form of toxicity in which a biological, chemical, or physical agent produces an adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. [1]