Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017160 (gastroenteritis)
 11,398 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Many species of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) produce secondary metabolites with potent biotoxic or cytotoxic properties. These metabolites differ from the intermediates and cofactor compounds that are essential for cell structural synthesis and energy transduction. The mass growth of cyanobacteria which develop in fresh, brackish and, marine waters commonly contain potent toxins. Cyanobacterial toxins or cyanotoxins are responsible for or implicated in animal poisoning, human gastroenteritis, dermal contact irritations and primary liver cancer in humans. These toxins (microcystins, nodularins, saxitoxins, anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a(s), cylindrospermopsin) are structurally diverse and their effects range from liver damage, including liver cancer to neurotoxicity. Several incidents of human illness and more recently, the death of 60 haemodialysis patients in Caruaru, Brazil, have been linked to the presence of microcystins in water. In response to the growing concern about the non-lethal acute and chronic effects of microcystins, World Health Organization has recently set a new provisional guideline value for microcystin-LR of 1.0 microg/L in drinking water. Cyanobacteria including microcystin-producing strains produce a large number of peptide compounds, e.g. micropeptins, cyanopeptolins, microviridin, circinamide, aeruginosin, with varying bioactivities and potential pharmacological application. This article discusses briefly cyanobacterial toxins and their implications on human health.
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PMID:Toxins and bioactive compounds from cyanobacteria and their implications on human health. 1259 62

Mycotoxins are toxic and carcinogenic metabolites produced by fungi that colonize food crops. The most agriculturally important mycotoxins known today are aflatoxins, which cause liver cancer and have also been implicated in child growth impairment and acute toxicoses; fumonisins, which have been associated with esophageal cancer (EC) and neural tube defects (NTDs); deoxynivalenol (DON) and other trichothecenes, which are immunotoxic and cause gastroenteritis; and ochratoxin A (OTA), which has been associated with renal diseases. This review describes the adverse human health impacts associated with these major groups of mycotoxins. First, we provide background on the fungi that produce these different mycotoxins and on the food crops commonly infected. Then, we describe each group of mycotoxins in greater detail, as well as the adverse effects associated with each mycotoxin and the populations worldwide at risk. We conclude with a brief discussion on estimations of global burden of disease caused by dietary mycotoxin exposure.
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PMID:Public health impacts of foodborne mycotoxins. 2442 87