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Mycotoxins can be harmful because they can cause disease and death in humans and animals. [35] They are found in many pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and growth developments. [ 35 ] Mycotoxins can also play a role in chemical warfare agents (CWA), which are chemicals that contain toxins that are used to cause death, harm, or injuries to ...
Hemotoxin, causes destruction of red blood cells ; Phototoxin, causes dangerous photosensitivity; Hepatotoxins affect the liver; Neurotoxins affect the nervous system; On a broader scale, toxins may be classified as either exotoxins, excreted by an organism, or endotoxins, which are released mainly when bacteria are lysed.
This allows the body to detect the harmful toxin if it is encountered later, and to eliminate it before it can cause harm to the host. Toxins of this type include cholera toxin, pertussis toxin, Shiga toxin and heat-labile enterotoxin from E. coli.
The synergistic effects associated with several other factors such as genetics, diet, and interactions with other toxins have been poorly studied. Therefore, it is possible that vitamin deficiency, caloric deprivation, excessive alcohol use, and infectious disease status can all have compounded effects with mycotoxins. [21]
Disease-causing microorganisms and parasites are toxic in a broad sense but are generally called pathogens rather than toxicants. The biological toxicity of pathogens can be difficult to measure because the threshold dose may be a single organism. Theoretically one virus, bacterium or worm can reproduce to cause a serious infection.
Mycotoxins can be found on the mold spore and mold fragments, and therefore they can also be found on the substrate upon which the mold grows. Routes of entry for these insults can include ingestion, dermal exposure, and inhalation. Aflatoxin is an example of a mycotoxin. It is a cancer-causing poison produced by certain fungi in or on foods ...
Toxins Many virulence factors are proteins made by bacteria that poison host cells and cause tissue damage. For example, there are many food poisoning toxins produced by bacteria that can contaminate human foods. Some of these can remain in "spoiled" food even after cooking and cause illness when the contaminated food is consumed.
Certain pathogens are also included since the toxins they secrete are known to cause adverse effects on the development of the organism when the mother or fetus is infected. The term developmental toxicity has widely replaced the early term for the study of primarily structural congenital abnormalities , teratology, to enable inclusion of a ...