The history of botulinum toxin in Brazil

Abstract

Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and has always been considered a lethal poison that is acquired via the consumption of contaminated food, such as meat, fish, or pickled vegetables. There are seven different serotypes of botulinum toxin, labeled A, B1, C, D, E, F, and G. This investigation focuses on type A botulinum toxin, as most strains of this type retain their toxigenicity well, yield highly potent culture fluids (≥1 million lethal doses per milliliter of culture fluid), and can easily crystallize in stable form.