Science News 3/25/06 Moldy Whiff Kills Brain Cells

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Science News Online

Week of March 25, 2006; Vol. 169, No. 12

Moldy whiff kills brain cells

Janet Raloff

From San Diego, at a meeting of the Society of Toxicology

Watch out, Hurricane Katrina and Rita cleanup crews. A common black mold that

blooms

on moist cellulose-based materials—from wallboard and ceiling tiles to

cardboard—

creates a toxin that can kill certain brain cells. In an experiment with mice,

the chemical,

satratoxin, targeted neurons running from the inside of the nose to the brain's

smell

center.

" This is the first demonstration that a neuron can be killed by satratoxin, "

notes Jack R.

Harkema of Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The fungal toxin's " specificity is what's really unique, " notes Harkema's

Michigan State

colleague J. Pestka. Among the exposed nasal cells, the toxin proved

lethal only to

those that sense odors.

The black mold Stachybotrys chartarum, commonly found in water-damaged

buildings,

had already been linked to people's respiratory irritation and asthma. To

identify nasal

effects, Harkema, Pestka, and Zahidul Islam, also of Michigan State, made mice

inhale a

single dose of satratoxin and then monitored tissue changes over the next month.

Within a day of exposure, 75 to 80 percent of the olfactory neurons in the

animals' noses

had died, Harkema notes. Although these cells can regenerate, he says, even

after a

month, many had still not been replaced.

As little as 25 micrograms of toxin per kilogram of mouse-body weight elicited

this neural

toxicity. The scientists now plan to evaluate whether prolonged exposure to even

lower

doses—as could be assaulting hurricane-cleanup crews—might trigger similar

changes.

A full report of the findings will appear in an upcoming Environmental Health

Perspectives.

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References:

Islam, Z., J.R. Harkema, and J.J. Pestka. In press. Satratoxin G from the black

mold

Stachybotrys chartarum evokes olfactory sensory neuron loss and inflammation in

the

murine nose and brain. Environmental Health Perspectives. Available at

http://dx.doi.org/

10.1289/ehp.8854.

______. 2006. Satratoxin G from the black mold Stachybotrys chartarum evokes

olfactory

sensory neuron loss and inflammation in the murine nose and brain. Society of

Toxicology

meeting. March 6-9. San Diego.

Sources:

Jack R. Harkema

Michigan State University

Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation

East Lansing, MI 48824

J. Pestka

Michigan State University

Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation

East Lansing, MI 48824

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060325/note14.asp

From Science News, Vol. 169, No. 12, March 25, 2006, p. 190.

Copyright © 2006 Science Service. All rights reserved.