Staphylococcus Aureus Enterotoxins: A Review
188-197
Correspondence
Dr. Aruna Bhatia, Professor, Dept. Of Biotechnology, Punjabi Univ., Patiala, Punjab, India. Phone Number: 0175-2283088, 09815913588. Fax Number: 0175-282881, 0175-283073. E-mail: aruna_bhatia@rediffmail.com
Food-borne diseases are of major concern worldwide. To date, 250 different food-borne diseases have been described and bacteria are the causative agents of two thirds of food-borne disease outbreaks. Food poisoning is a term used to express any type of disease, illness or malaffect after consuming food. The most serious type of food poisoning is bacterial food poisoning, which may be due to bacterial infection or food intoxication. Among the predominant bacteria involved in these diseases, Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of a food in which enterotoxigenic staphylococci have grown and produced toxins. As these toxins are excreted from the organism, they are referred to as exotoxins; however, they normally exert their effects on the gastrointestinal tract and therefore are called enterotoxins. While not considered a highly lethal agent due to the low mortality associated with the illness, staphylococcal enterotoxins are considered a potential biological threat because of their stability at high temperatures (100°C for 1 h) and ability to incapacitate individuals for several days to two weeks. Here, a brief review on Staphylococcal enterotoxins is given.