P. Gopalakrishnakone – författare

Biological toxins are an important part of our world, a reality with which we need to cope, so in parallel with understanding their mechanisms of action and thereby improving our fundamental knowledge, there are successful efforts to utilize them as therapeutics against some debilitating human and animal diseases. In view of the complexity of different types of biotoxins and the broad range of toxin structure, physiology, utility, and countermeasures including regulatory issues, it was thus aimed to compile a book on biotoxins and bioweapons.

This reference work in the Toxinology handbook series gathers together knowledge from around the globe about naturally inspired and manufactured biological weapons. The authors describe how they work; how authorities may detect their presence, prevent their use, and diagnose their impacts; and the means by which medical and paramedical professionals may treat victims. Also described are how they have been used to further our knowledge and what insights they have given us into evolutionary and physiological processes. Finally, it is also discussed how these toxins can be used as therapeutics and what the implications of such therapeutics are to their use as biothreat agents.

This volume provides a reference accessible to scientists, educators, and medical experts alike with an interest in biotoxins, focusing on the major toxins used as bioweapons. Regulatory agencies will also benefit from the information provided in this book. Some in the intended audience may need to understand how they elicit their effects and how we can defend ourselves against them. Others may be interested in the sometimes colorful histories that surround this subset of biotoxins that can be and, in some cases, have been used as weapons.

Clinical toxinologic conditions are becoming increasingly frequent, more so than is generally recognized. The conditions comprise of clinical aspects such as the diagnosis, management, and prevention of snakebite envenoming, scorpion sting, mushroom toxins, plant toxins, and other natural toxins. Clinical toxinology also deals with the ecology, epidemiology, regional differences, and varieties of fauna accounting for different envenoming manifestations.

This handbook includes 30 chapters addressing various topics on clinical toxinology such as the epidemiology and management of snakebites in different Asian and African countries, disability following snakebite, effect of snake venoms on hemostasis, socioeconomic  aspects of snakebites, therapeutic application of snake venom, scorpion sting in the Middle East, jellyfish sting, etc. These titles are written by experts currently working in the subspecialty, many of whom have first-hand experience in the relevant research fields. In virtually all the topics, appropriate illustrations are provided to simplify comprehension including tables, figures and pictures.

This reference work on Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa, in the Toxinology handbook series, is designed to keep readers abreast with new knowledge and experience in toxinology regionally and globally. Toxinologists, researchers, scientists, and experts in this field from various working areas considered it necessary to collect all the aspects of clinical toxinology in a single, handy handbook. This can be used by medical students, postgraduate students, general practitioners, specialists in internal medicine, critical care physicians, emergency physicians, and anesthetists worldwide.

This volume provides an overview of the biochemical characterization, structure-function studies, proteomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, transcriptomics and genomics of various spider species. The book also covers our current knowledge of venom components, toxins and their modes of action. The first section of Spider Venom includes contributions regarding the wide diversity of spider venom components and depicts some of their biological effects (antimicrobial, ion channel modulators, insecticides, this includes peptide and non-peptide toxins), and emphasizes spiders of public health importance. The second section covers transcriptomes, proteomes (and peptidomics), bioinformatics and molecular dynamics. The last section describes antimicrobial, insecticidal toxins, envenomation and the medical potential of spider venoms.

Spider venoms are a great and extensive source of bioactive compounds, and as such form a boundless and bountiful area awaiting discovery. Itis by virtue of dedicated scientists that new toxins are discovered and that new insights arise, leading the way towards the investigation of their pharmacological effects, and hopefully, as a consequence, arriving at the discovery of venom components as new drug candidates.

Scorpions have fascinated humans for a long time, first and foremost because of the harm the sting of a few species could cause but also due to their unique natural history and for the many biologically active compounds found in their venoms. This volume of the Toxinology handbook series covers all those aspects. The subjects are divided into seven sections starting with an introduction to the general aspects of scorpion biology and ecology, followed by the description of the “envenomation” pathophysiology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of venoms and their complex interactions with the immune system. The future of anti-scorpion venom therapy is then covered in two chapters dedicated to alternatives to the century-old techniques currently used to produce “anti-venoms”. The next section presents a world tour of “scorpionism” and dangerous scorpion species and their impact on human health. It is worth remembering that envenomation due to scorpion stings is a substantialhealth hazard in Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American countries, with over one million people stung by scorpions every year, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths. Species-centered overviews of “scorpion venoms” are presented in the next section, after which a section details the two main types of “scorpion toxins”. The last section covers high-throughput transcriptome and proteome screenings now known as “venomics”.

This volume provides chapters that are accessible to a broad audience, yet also contains the depth of knowledge and detail which makes it of interest to experts in the field. Readers of this reference work will leave well informed on the current state of the art of scorpion venom research.

This volumeprovides the reader with recent advances in the fields of molecular toxinology,the biotechnological applications of venom toxins, and antivenom production.The content of the twenty chapters of Venom Genomics and Proteomicsillustrates not only the enormous progress made since the implementation ofomics technologies in the field of toxinology, but one also realizes the roadstill ahead to reach a holistic view of venomous systems. Advancement inhigh-throughput technologies in the field of venomics has resulted in theability to generate comprehensive venom profiles for many species. However,research on snake genomes is still in its infancy, although such studies areeagerly awaited to gain insights into the evolutionary history of snake venomproteins, including the mechanisms that originated venom and the regulation oftoxin expression. Fortunately, this objective is also at the reach of currentomic technologies. Therefore it would not be unrealistic to predict a brightnear future to the field of molecular toxinology.

VenomGenomics and Proteomics covers research into the venom of scaled reptiles (lizards andsnakes), scorpions, spiders, ants and platypuses. Special consideration isgiven to a number of observations made in the area of snake venom and in theapplication of advanced genomics and proteomics techniques on a variety ofvenom samples. The final chapters give some insight into the potential clinicaluses of venom derivatives and into the importance and challenges faced in theproduction and quality control of antivenoms.