Ricin: A Possible, Noninfectious Biological Weapon

Maman, Maor; Yehezkelli, Yoav

doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1266-4_8

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…During the Cold War, the Soviet Union also studied ricin as a possible biological weapons agent. Ken Alibek, a former top official involved in Russia's biological weapons program who defected to the U.S. in 1991, claimed that Russia developed ricin toxin as a weapon, and that the ricin toxin used against the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, as well Vladimir Kostov (another Bulgarian exile in Paris), was concocted in Russian laboratories (Maman & Yehezkelli, 2005). During 1989, approximately 10 L of concentrated ricin solution was reportedly manufactured at Salman Park just south of Baghdad, some of which were used in animal testing and as payload in artillery shells (Zilinskas, 1997).…”

Section: History Of Ricin As a Biological Weaponmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on animal experiments and accidental human exposures, the approximate LD 50 and time to death for humans are, respectively, 3 μg/kg and 36-72 hours by inhalation, 30 μg/kg and 6-8 days by ingestion, 3 μg/kg and 36-72 hours by intravenous injection, and 500 μg and 3-6 days by subcutaneous injection (based on Georgi Markov's assassination) (Franz & Jaax, 1997;Maman & Yehezkelli, 2005;Mirarchi, 2010).…”

Section: Human Toxicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Markov, a 49-year-old novelist and playwriter had published and broadcasted anticommunist views. An assassin reportedly injected a small pellet of ricin (believed to have been supplied by the KGB), into Markov's right thigh using a weapon in the shape of an umbrella (Maman & Yehezkelli, 2005). He subsequently developed severe gastroenteritis, high fever, and died 3 days later (discussed in detail later in this chapter).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ricin Perspective in Bioterrorism

Roxas-Duncan¹,

Smith²

2012

Bioterrorism

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Section: History Of Ricin As a Biological Weaponmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Toxicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ricin Perspective in Bioterrorism

Roxas-Duncan¹,

Smith²

2012

Bioterrorism

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“…It has the potential to be used as a biological weapon because of its stability and ease of production worldwide [2] . It can be injected into a target, used to contaminate food and water, or can be dispersed as an aerosol.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rauber et al [3] documented more than 750 cases of accidental or deliberate ricin intoxication following castor bean ingestion, and 14 of them resulted in a fatality. A fatal dose through ingestion is considered to be 5-6 castor beans for a child and 20 beans for an adult [2] . The ingested toxin causes initial symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protective effects of anti-ricin A-chain antibodies delivered intracellularly against ricin-induced cytotoxicity

Fan²,

Martiniuk³

et al. 2010

WJBC

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AIM:To evaluate the ability of anti-ricin A-chain antibodies, delivered intracellularly, to protect against ricininduced cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 cells. METHODS:Anti-deglycosylated ricin A-chain antibody and RAC18 anti-ricin A-chain monoclonal antibody were delivered intracellularly by encapsulating in liposomes or via conjugation with the cell-penetrating MTS-transport peptide. RAW264.7 cells were incubated with these antibodies either before or after ricin exposure. The changes in cytotoxicity were estimated by MTT assay. Co-localization of internalized antibody and ricin was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. RESULTS:Internalized antibodies significantly increased cell viability either before or after ricin exposure compared to the unconjugated antibodies. Fluorescence microscopy confirmed the co-localization of internalized antibodies and ricin inside the cells.

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Natural or Deliberate Outbreak in Pakistan: How to Prevent or Detect and Trace its Origin: Biosecurity, Surveillance, Forensics

Khalil

Nasim

2014

Arch. Immunol. Ther. Exp.

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Over the last few decades biosecurity and biosafety have emerged as a prominent public health concern due to some high-profile accidents. Effective strategies to deal with the outbreak, whether deliberate or non-deliberate requires a multidisciplinary approach and coordinated decision-making by various state departments such as health, forensics, agriculture, environment, intelligence, law and enforcement, etc. In a dynamic global environment and the overwhelming asymmetric threats from the non-state actors, it is of utmost importance to understand the biosecurity issues and initiate a coordinated global effort to cope with biosecurity and biosafety breaches and develop an as effective response mechanism. An attractive choice for the terrorists, state enemies and non-state actors is the use of biological weapons. An unwanted incident may not only bring chaos to the people, but also can inflict severe economic damage industrially and locally as was in the notorious foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Because of special geopolitical compulsion, Pakistan is one of the hot spots where special action needs to be taken. The current review focuses on the various approaches, technologies that can be used to alleviate the chances of biosafety and biosecurity incident and emphasizes the role of modern technology that can be used in this regard.

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Ricin: A Possible, Noninfectious Biological Weapon

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Ricin Perspective in Bioterrorism

Ricin Perspective in Bioterrorism

Protective effects of anti-ricin A-chain antibodies delivered intracellularly against ricin-induced cytotoxicity

Natural or Deliberate Outbreak in Pakistan: How to Prevent or Detect and Trace its Origin: Biosecurity, Surveillance, Forensics

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