Understanding Ricin from a Defensive Viewpoint 英文参考文献.docVIP

Toxins 2011, 3, 1373-1392; doi:10.3390/toxins3111373 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 /journal/toxins Review Understanding Ricin from a Defensive Viewpoint Gareth D. Griffiths Biology Department, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, Wiltshire SP4 0JQ, UK; E-Mail: gdgriffiths@.uk; Tel.: +44-01980-613121; Fax: +44-01980-613741 Received: 12 August 2011; in revised form: 13 October 2011 / Accepted: 14 October 2011 / Published: 4 November 2011 Abstract: The toxin ricin has long been understood to have potential for criminal activity and there has been concern that it might be used as a mass-scale weapon on a military basis for at least two decades. Currently, the focus has extended to encompass terrorist activities using ricin to disrupt every day activities on a smaller scale. Whichever scenario is considered, there are features in common which need to be understood; these include the knowledge of the toxicity from ricin poisoning by the likely routes, methods for the detection of ricin in relevant materials and approaches to making an early diagnosis of ricin poisoning, in order to take therapeutic steps to mitigate the toxicity. This article will review the current situation regarding each of these stages in our collective understanding of ricin and how to defend against its use by an aggressor. Keywords: toxicology of ricin; inhalation; parenteral (intramuscular); ingestion; detection; antibody based tests; mass spectrometry; polymerase chain reaction 1. Introduction The protein toxin, ricin, is effectively a bi-product of the castor oil extraction process and at least 100 million metric tonnes of castor beans are grown and processed every year with the purpose of preparing castor oil. In addition to cultivation for oil production, the Ricinus plant also grows like a weed in warmer climates of the world, including Africa, the Middle East, India and Southern France. A highly toxic