Botulinum toxin is a medication and a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the most toxic protein known with an LD50 of roughly 0.005-0.05 µg/kg. Despite this, it is used in minute doses, in some parts of the world, to treat muscle spasms. It is sold commercially under the brand names Botox, Dysport, Myobloc, Neurobloc and Xeomin for this purpose. Botox Cosmetic and Vistabel are available for cosmetic treatment. The terms Botox (Cosmetic), Vistabel, Dysport, Myobloc, Neurobloc and Xeomin are trade names and are not used generically to describe the neurotoxins produced by C. botulinum.
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Botulinum toxin is a medication and a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the most toxic protein known with an LD50 of roughly 0.005-0.05 µg/kg. Despite this, it is used in minute doses, in some parts of the world, to treat muscle spasms. It is sold commercially under the brand names Botox, Dysport, Myobloc, Neurobloc and Xeomin for this purpose. Botox Cosmetic and Vistabel are available for cosmetic treatment. The terms Botox (Cosmetic), Vistabel, Dysport, Myobloc, Neurobloc and Xeomin are trade names and are not used generically to describe the neurotoxins produced by C. botulinum.
History
Between 1817 and 1822, the German physician and poet Justinus Kerner described botulinum toxin, using the terms "sausage poison" and "fatty poison", as this bacterium often caused poisoning by growing in improperly handled or prepared meat products. It was Kerner who first conceived a possible therapeutic use of botulinium toxin. In 1870, Müller, another German physician, coined the name botulism, from Latin botulus = "sausage". In 1897, Emile van Ermengem identified the bacterium Clostridium botulinum to be the producer of botulinum toxin.In 1928 Snipe and Hermann Sommer for the first time purified the toxin. In 1949, Burgen's group discovered that botulinium toxin blocks neuromuscular transmission. In the late 1960s Allan Scott and Edward Schantz were the first to work on a standardized botulinum toxin preparation for therapeutic purposes.
Other bacteria that produce botulinum toxin are Clostridium butyricum, C.baratii and C.argentinense.
Botulinum toxin is neutralized at temperatures greater than 60 °C. (140°F) By 1973, Alan B Scott, MD, of Smith-Kettlewell Institute used botulinium toxin type A (BTX-A) in monkey experiments, and, in 1980, he officially used BTX-A for the first time in humans to treat strabismus, a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. In December 1989, BTX-A (BOTOX) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of strabismus, blepharospasm, and hemifacial spasm in patients over 12 years old. The cosmetic effect of BTX-A was initially described by ophthalmologist Jean Carruthers and dermatologist Alastair Carruthers, a husband-and-wife team working in Vancouver, Canada, although the effect had been observed by a number of independent groups (Brin, and the Columbia University group). On April 15, 2002, the FDA announced the approval of botulinum toxin type A (BOTOX Cosmetic) to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate-to-severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines). BTX-A has also been approved for the treatment of excessive underarm sweating. The acceptance of BTX-A use for the treatment of spasticity and muscle pain disorders is growing, with approvals pending in many European countries and studies on headaches (including migraine), prostatic symptoms, asthma, obesity and many other possible indications are ongoing.
