To define epitopes of tetanus toxin, we compared four different in vitro systems in terms of their ability to produce tetanus toxin-specific subfragments from cloned DNA. A transcription-translation system developed from a nontoxigenic strain of Clostridium tetani was found to yield predominantly full-sized peptides. Such peptides were used to map six different epitopes for eight monoclonal ant...

We report the case of a 58-year-old man born in the United States with a history of complete childhood immunizations who presented to the Emergency Department with trismus. Past medical history was significant only for Elephantiasis. After an exhaustive workup the patient was found to have Tetanus, with no identifiable portal of entry. The patient was successfully treated for Tetanus with compl...

Restriction maps were constructed of enzymically amplified 16S rRNA genes (rDNA) isolated from eight Clostridium species. Using maximum parsimony, a dendrogram was constructed from these and published 16S rRNA sequence data. Two distinct clusters were identified: cluster I contained C. difficile, C. sordelli, and C. bifermentans, and showed 30 of 35 restriction sites in common; cluster II conta...

A new diagnostic reagent was developed that is capable of detecting the presence of Clostridium perfringens rapidly and accurately compared to the conventional methods. C. perfringens enterotoxin (cpe) gene is the gene of interest since it encodes the enterotoxin responsible for food poisoning. Two new cpe-specific labeled DNA probes were evaluated using Southern and dot blot hybridization. Bac...

Cephalic tetanus is a localized form of tetanus. As in generalized forms, trismus is a prominent feature of the disease, leading to considerable difficulty in feeding, swallowing of the saliva and mouth hygiene. These difficulties often precede respiratory problems and aspiration bronchopneumonia is a frequent life-threatening complication. Muscle relaxants other than curare drugs may show a li...

When Clostridium tetani was discovered and identified as a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium of the genus Clostridium, the possibility of turning its toxin into a valuable biological carrier to ameliorate neurodegenerative processes was inconceivable. However, the non-toxic carboxy-terminal fragment of the tetanus toxin heavy chain (fragment C) can be retrogradely transported to the central ner...