Toxinology – serie

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.

This comprehensive reference gathers vital biochemical, biomedical and clinical details in Toxinology, spanning biochemistry, molecular biology, anatomy and pharmacology, and discussing the potential for venom-based drugs. Volume 2 covers Clinical Toxinology.

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.

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.

Initially, because of the inadequate sensitivity of devices and other limitations, only major venom components of the dominant species were studied. However, in last two decades, increased sensitivity of devices and the development of new techniques, such as transcriptomics and proteomics techniques, have permitted us to analyze the structures and functions of rare species and to identify novel minor components. As a result, the number of venom components identified is increasing dramatically and the physiological functions of each component is more deeply understood. The scope of this book provides the readers an updated and comprehensive presentation on snake venoms. The subjects are divided into six sections, starting with the overview of snake venom compositions in Malaysian species, followed by description of enzymes and enzyme inhibitors contained in snake venoms. Also discussed are the effects of snake venom on cellular receptors, ion channels, blood, and lymph, as well as cytotoxic and antimicrobial molecules present in snake venoms. The last section covers the clinical consequences of envenomation and the management of snakebites using antivenins.

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.

This book presents the structure of the main toxins of aquatic origin, their distribution, producing species and vectors, their mechanisms of action, the clinical aspects of envenomation in humans, their effects in laboratory or wild animals, their toxicokinetic properties, including the relevant treatment, detection methods and regulatory aspects for management. The work also presents the main species associated with the injuries, poisonings their toxins, mechanism of action and the clinical aspects of the envenomations by aquatic animals and discusses the actual measures utilized in the first aid and hospital treatments. Marine toxins such as palytoxins, brevetoxins, saxitoxin, ciguatoxins, okadaic acid, azaspiracid toxins, equinatoxins are also dealt with in this volume. These toxins can be lethal as well as having a complex and large molecular structure and display mechanisms by which they act very specifically on targets, receptors or on critical body proteins.Themarine and freshwater environments are the new frontiers of humanity, but the increase of economic and tourist activities provoke nasty encounters between aquatic animals and humans. The main victims are swimmers, professional and sportive fishermen, surfers and scuba divers as well as people working in related fields. The identification, knowledge and treatment of envenomations caused by venomous and poisonous animals are not adequate and the prevention of injuries still is not possible. Additionally, the immense potential of the pharmacologic effects of their toxins is not fully explored. Toxins of venomous aquatic animals can cause proteolysis, myotoxicity, hemotoxicity (mainly hemolysis), cytotoxicity and neurotoxicity. The neurotoxicity is generally associated with toxins of dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria, present in poisonous and/or contaminated invertebrates and fish.

This volume provides an overview of microbial toxins from diverse bacterial and fungal origins.

This volume deals mainly with the specialized aspect of toxins and drug discovery. Man has been using natural resources especially plants to treat diseases from very early times in history of mankind. Although many drugs derived from plants and microbes have been discovered and being used in clinical practice, not many drugs have been developed from venoms and toxins although many laboratories worldwide are actively working on it. This volume describe some of the recent developments in this research area, such as snake venoms, conotoxins , bioinformatics in drug discovery from peptide toxins.

This volume contains a section on the wider evolutionary context of venom in animals, the molecular evolutionary processes involved in generating diversity, and the concept of venom evolution as being driven by an arms race that also involves evolution of resistance to toxins by prey. It also studies the relationship between the evolution of toxins and the evolution of the animals that they evolved within.  The last section discusses the evolution of venom delivery systems. The definition of a venomous animal, as opposed to a poisonous one, encompasses the evolution not just of toxins but also a specialized mechanism for administering them by injection.

This volume, in its over two dozen chapters, constitutes an overview of the current plant toxin research. It covers from general aspects of plant toxicity to in-depth reviews of various classes of toxins, their structures, synthesis, modes of action, and upcoming uses in biotechnology. It provides an encompassing landscape of plant toxinology for both toxinologists and non-toxinologists alike.