ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with enterotoxins produced by the following microorganisms: Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Shigella sp., Yersinia enterocolica and Campylobacter jejuni. The etiological agents are groups of gram-negative microorganisms that produce enterotoxins, although some viruses and parasites have also to be included. Intensive research, supported by the WHO, to introduce effective vaccinations against the main enterotoxin-producing microorganisms or their toxins is in progress. Cholera toxin is a typical enterotoxin which acts after binding to the gangloside GMx of the brush border of enterocytes. The majority of diarrheas in human and farm animals are induced by E. coli enterotoxins. Production of E. coli enterotoxins and also of some other enterotoxins depends on the existence of conditions favorable for microbe multiplication. Heat-labile E. coli enterotoxins activate adenylate cyclase in the same manner as does cholera toxin. Production of heat-stable enterotoxin by E. coli has been known since the first papers on E. coli enterotoxins.
