a. What characteristics of Clostridium contribute to its pathogenicity?b. Compare the toxigenicity of tetanospasmin and botulinum toxin.c. What predisposes a patient to clostridial infection?

Essentials of Pharmacology for Health Professions
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ISBN:9781305441620
Author:WOODROW
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Chapter17: Anti-infective Drugs
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a. What characteristics of Clostridium contribute to its pathogenicity?
b. Compare the toxigenicity of tetanospasmin and botulinum toxin.
c. What predisposes a patient to clostridial infection?

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Step 1

Bacteria can be defined as the are microscopic, single-celled organisms that thrive in diverse environments. These organisms can live in soil, the ocean, and inside the human gut. Humans' relationship with bacteria is complex.

 

 

Step 2

 Characteristics of Clostridium contribute to its pathogenicity

The virulence of C. Perfringens can be understood on the basis of largely on its ability to produce 16 different toxins along with extracellular enzymes. Clostridial hemolysins and extracellular enzymes such as proteases, lipases, collagenase, and hyaluronidase, leads to the various invasive process.

Toxigenicity of tetanospasmin and botulinum toxin.

Botulism and tetanus can be defined as the two severe neurological diseases that occur in man and Botulism is described by the descendant flaccid paralysis and tetanus consists of spastic paralysis. In the severe condition of both diseases, death is occurring by respiratory distress.

BoNTs (Botulinum neurotoxin) and TeNT (tetanus toxin) will share a common structural organization that consists of a light (L) chain that is approx 50 kDa connected by the disulfide bridge to the heavy (H) chain about 100 kDa. Only a unique TeNT is known, while BoNTs encompass seven toxinotypes (A to G, BoNT/A, B, and E  that are mainly involved in human botulism, which is further subdivided into different subtypes according to the sequence of amino acid and variations.

BoNTs plays the role in targeting the motoneuron endings or neuromuscular junctions, and the transportation of  TeNT to the central inhibitory interneurons with the help of a retrograde axonal pathway along with the motoneurons. BoNT and TeNT have the tendency to block the release of neurotransmitters by an L chain-mediated proteolytic cleavage of SNARE proteins which are involved in the neuroexocytosis process.

 

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