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Staphylococcal
enterotoxins: Molecular
aspects and detection methods
Nathalie Gaebler Vasconcelos and Maria
de Lourdes Ribeiro de Souza da Cunha*
Biosciences Institute, UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista,
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bacteriology
Laboratory, Botucatu-SP, Brazil.
*Corresponding author. E-mial:
cunhamlr@ibb.unesp.br.
Accepted 19 April 2010 |
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Members of the Staphylococcus genus, especially
Staphylococcus aureus, are the most common pathogens
found in hospitals and in community-acquired infections.
Some of their pathogenicity is associated with enzyme and
toxin production. Until recently, S. aureus was the
most studied species in the genus; however, in last few
years, the rise of infections caused by coagulase-negative
staphylococci has pointed out the need for further studies
on virulence factors that have not yet been completely
elucidated so as to better characterize the pathogenic
potential of this group of microorganisms. Several
staphylococcal species produce enterotoxins, a family of
related proteins responsible for many diseases, such as the
toxic-shock syndrome, septicemia and food poisoning. To this
date, 23 different enterotoxin types have been identified
besides toxic-shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and they can
be divided into five phylogenetic groups. The mechanism of
action of these toxins includes superantigen activity and
emetic properties, which can lead to biological effects of
infection. Various methods can detect genes that encode
enterotoxins and their production. Molecular methods are the
most frequently used at present. This review article has the
objective to describe aspects related to the classification,
structure and regulation of enterotoxins and toxic-shock
syndrome toxin-1 detection methods.
Key words:
Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative
staphylococci, enterotoxins,
TSST-1, PCR, molecular detection.
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