Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0040822 (tremor)
 18,428 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report on an elderly couple who presented with a syndrome that included severe generalised tremor and incoordination after eating soup from a damaged can. Black mould contaminating the can was subcultured and the fungus Penicillium crustosum was identified. This fungus usually produces a potent neurotoxin called penitrem A. The couple displayed symptoms consistent with penitrem A ingestion, all of which resolved fully. Penitrem A intoxication has been well documented in animals, but not in humans.
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PMID:Tremor syndrome associated with a fungal toxin: sequelae of food contamination. 1593 87

Purkinje cell loss is the hallmark of the cerebellar ataxias. Here the fungal neurotoxin Penitrem A was used to create partially Purkinje-cell-deficient cerebella in neonate and young adult rats suitable for use in neural stem cell transplantation studies. I.p. administration of Penitrem A to P3, P6 and 11-week old rats caused noticeable tremor in all treated animals that lasted between 1 and 3 days and was more immediate in the rat pups than in the 11-week old rats. Quantification of cresyl violet stained sections showed that Purkinje cells were preferentially lost in the cerebellar vermis and specifically in folia VI to IX (P<0.001-0.05). No change occurred in Purkinje cell number in folia I-III and folium X. These results were confirmed by the loss of calbindin binding cells in the Purkinje cell layer and the appearance of enlarged vacuolated mitochondria. The results of the present study show that the Penitrem A can remove Purkinje cells in the immature rat cerebellum and thus provide a potential model to study the micro-environmental cues in vivo for the differentiation of Purkinje cells from transplanted and/or intrinsic neural stem cells.
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PMID:Toxin-produced Purkinje cell death: a model for neural stem cell transplantation studies. 1837 11

Several cases of neurological disease in dogs after poisoning by food- and feed-borne Penicillium toxins in Norway during the last years have uncovered a lack of knowledge regarding the toxicity and mechanism of action of neuroactive mycotoxins. In the present study, the lowest tremor-inducing dose after single oral administration of penitrem A to mice was 0.50 mg/kg bw. The estimated half maximal effective dose (ED(50)) in respect to the visual tremor scale was 2.74 mg/kg bw. Mice receiving the maximum penitrem A dose (8 mg/kg bw) suffered severe spontaneous tremors and even convulsions. Thomitrem A and E are penitrem analogues lacking the C-16-C-18 ether linkage and possessing an olefin at C-18-C-19. Compared with penitrem A, the lowest tremor-inducing dose of thomitrem A was 16-times higher (8 mg/kg bw) and thomitrem E was found to be non-tremorgenic at the highest dose tested (16 mg/kg bw). During a recovery phase of two weeks post administration animals appeared restored and no changes in feeding and other biological processes were observed. An initial dose-related weight reduction was observed 2 days after penitrem A administration. Penitrem A was absorbed and distributed to gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys and brain in the mice. Elimination of penitrem A appeared to be mainly hepatic and the highest concentration levels were found 1 h post administration for all investigated organs. The relationship between liver and gastrointestinal tract concentration levels showed time-dependent linear correlation and a doubling within 1.5 h.
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PMID:Neurotoxicity of Penicillium crustosum secondary metabolites: tremorgenic activity of orally administered penitrem A and thomitrem A and E in mice. 2308 23