T-2 mycotoxin

Caution The T-2 mycotoxins are the only potential biological warfare agents that can harm and be absorbed through intact skin. Aerosol doses of T-2 toxins may be ten times more potent than parenteral doses. 

Throughout recent decades, efforts were made to limit or ban biological weapons, but several nations ignored the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Biologic and Toxic Weapons and their Destruction. Between 1975 and 1983, Laos and Cambodia came under attack by planes and helicopters that delivered Yellow Rain suspected to contain lethal T-2 mycotoxins. 

T-2 Mycotoxins No vaccine available Decontamination of clothing and skin ... 

Pace, J.G. (1983). Effect of T-2 mycotoxin on rat liver mitochondria electron transport system. Toxicon 21 675-80. 

Pace, J.G., Watts, M.R., Canterbury, W.J. (1988). T-2 mycotoxin inhibits mitochondrial protein synthesis. Toxicon 26 77-85. 

Trichothecene mycotoxins Stachybotrotoxins, including satratoxin H T-2 mycotoxins Marine toxins Phycotoxins (algal toxins)... 

The T-2 mycotoxins have a low molecular mass of 250-500 Da, are nonvolatile compounds produced by filamentous fiingi or molds of the genus Fusarium, and are extremely stable in the environment. Of the multiple mechanisms of actions, many are poorly understood. However, their most notable effect stems from their ability to rapidly inhibit protein and nucleic acid synthesis. Thus, they are markedly cytotoxic to rapidly dividing cells, such as in the bone marrow, G1 tract (mucosal epithelium), skin, and germ cells. This cytotoxic effect imitates the hematopoietic and lymphoid effect of radiation sickness, thus the mycotoxins are referred to as radiomimetic agents. The mycotoxins also alter ceU-membrane strucmre and function, inhibit mitochondrial respiration, and inactivate certain enzymes. Decontamination requires the use of hypochlorite solution under alkaline conditions, such as 1% sodium hypochlorite and 0.1 M NaOH with 1 h contact time (USAMRICD, 2005). 

T-2 mycotoxins (yellow rain) Mycotoxins of the Trichothecence group Biotoxin Probable... 

F. Vaccination. Vaccination is the preferred method of biological defense. Fully licensed vaccines are currently available for anthrax, cholera, plague and smallpox. Vaccines for botulinum toxoid, Q fever, Rift Valley fever, tularemia, and VEE currently exist as IND products and would be available only under protocol with informed consent, therefore would not be readily available on the battlefield. No vaccine is currently available either FDA licensed or under IND status, for glanders, brucellosis, Staphylococcus enterotoxin B, ricin, or T-2 mycotoxins. 

This discussion focuses on the hemorrhagic T-2 mycotoxin, a highly toxic agent that causes several illnesses in humans and animals, as described. From the 1970s and 1980s, trichothecene mycotoxins surfaced in the press as bioterrorism warfare... 

Creasia DA, Thurman JD, Wannemacher RW Jr, Bunner DL. Acute inhalation toxicity of T-2 mycotoxin in the rat and guinea pig. Fundam Appl Toxicol. 1990 14(1) 54—59. 

Thompson WL, Wannemacher RW Jr. Detection and quantitation of T-2 mycotoxin with a simplified protein synthesis inhibition assay. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 48(6) 1176 1180. 

Thompson WL, Wannemacher RW Jr. In vivo effects of T-2 mycotoxin on synthesis of proteins and DNA in rat tissues. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1990 105(3) 482—491. 

Material for Removing T-2 Mycotoxin From Exposed Skin of Guinea Pigs and Rabbits. Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Memorandum to US Army Medical Material Development Activity, 10 January 1987. 

Chanh TC, Hewetson JF. Structure/function studies of T-2 mycotoxin with a monoclonal antibody. Immuno-pharmacology. 1991 21 (2) 83—90. 

Markham RJ, Erhardt NP, Di Ninno VL, Penman D, Bhatti AR. Flavonoids protect against T-2 mycotoxins both in vitro and in vivo. J Gen Microbiol. 1987 133(6) 1589-1592. 

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