ABSTRACT
CholeraisasevereandpotentiallyfataldiseasethatiscausedbyVibriocholeraeand characterizedbymassivewaterydiarrhea.Discoveriesduringthe1950sshowedthat productsofV.choleraecouldproducesecretorydiarrheawhentheywereinjectedinto ligatedilealloopsofadultrabbitsorintotheintestineofinfantrabbits(De,1959;Dutta etal.,1959).Thesefindingswerecriticalforthesubsequentpurificationofcholera enterotoxin(CT)toapparenthomogeneitybyFinkelsteinandLoSpalluto(1969).The availabilityofpurifiedCTasareagentforbasicandclinicalresearchwasapowerful stimulusforstudiesbothonthepathogenesisofenterotoxin-mediateddiarrhealdiseases andonthestructure,function,immunochemistry,moleculargenetics,andregulationof CTandrelatedenterotoxins.Choleraremainstheprototypeforsecretorydiarrhealdiseases causedbyenterotoxin-producingbacteria.
