Exotoxin - Gaidokuso (English spelling)

Japanese: 外毒素 - がいどくそ（英語表記）exotoxin

Exotoxin. Also called extracellular toxin. A general term for toxins produced by bacteria that are secreted outside the bacterial body. The main component is protein, which is highly toxic and selectively acts on living cells to cause specific toxic symptoms. Representative exotoxin-producing bacteria include Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium gas gangrene, Clostridium tetanus, Clostridium diphtheriae, and Staphylococcus aureus. When these bacteria infect the human body, they produce toxins as they grow inside the body, and these toxins cause specific symptoms. Bacteria that do not produce toxins outside the body, such as typhoid and cholera bacteria, are called endotoxins, and their toxic components exist inside the bacteria and do not spread while they are alive, but once the bacteria die and disintegrate, they are released outside the bacteria and become toxic.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

エクソトキシンのこと。菌体外毒素ともいう。細菌がつくりだす毒素のなかで菌体外に分泌されるものの総称。主成分は蛋白質で，毒力が強く，生体細胞に選択的に作用して特有な中毒症状を引起す。ボツリヌス菌，ガス壊疽菌，破傷風菌，ジフテリア菌，黄色ブドウ球菌などが代表的な外毒素産生菌である。これらの菌は感染すると，人体内で増殖しながら毒素をつくり出し，この毒素のために特有な症状が起る。なお，チフス菌，コレラ菌などのように菌体外に毒素をつくり出さないものは内毒素 (エンドトキシン) といって，有毒成分は菌体内に存在し，生きている間は毒素は拡散しないが，いったん菌が死滅して崩壊すれば菌体外に遊離して毒性を示すようになる。

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