TABLE 1.

Lethality of epsilon-toxin, alpha-toxin, and botulinus toxin for nephrectomized and unnephrectomized mice

Toxin	Amt of toxin (ng or MLDa)	Nephrectomy	Time required for killing miceb (h)
			Mean ± SE	Range
None	0	+	21 ± 1	20-23
Epsilon-toxin	50	−	5.8 ± 0.5	4.4-6.8
	50	+	1.0 ± 0.1	0.83-1.2
	100	−	1.1 ± 0.1	0.88-1.3
	100	+	0.63 ± 0.05	0.05-0.77
Alpha-toxinc	100	−	2.2 ± 0.1	1.9-2.4
	100	+	2.5 ± 0.2	2.1-3.3
Botulinus neurotoxind	2 × 105	−	1.8 ± 0.1	1.5-2.0
	2 × 105	+	2.3 ± 0.1	1.9-2.5

^aThe amount of botulinum toxin is expressed as MLD (minimal lethal dose) determined by intraperitoneal injection into mice.

^bMice with and without nephrectomy were i.v. given toxins (n = 5 for each group) or the vehicle alone (n = 3), and then the time of animal death was recorded.

^cAlpha-toxin was purified from recombinant E. coli (23), and its specific activity was determined by p-nitrophenylphosphorylcholine hydrolysis assay (6) to be 303 nmol/min/mg.

^dBotulinus type A neurotoxin, which had been purified as described elsewhere (5), was provided by K. Oguma (Department of Bacteriology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama, Japan).