The Effect of the Treatment of Crude Tetanus Toxin with Ganglioside Cerebroside Complex on Sphincter Paralysis in the Rabbit's Eye

Abstract

Crude tetanus toxin paralyses the cholinergic innervation of the sphincter pupillae of the rabbit eye. To test whether this activity was due to tetanospasmin or to a non-spasmogenic fraction with a peripheral effect, the action of crude tetanus toxin and of the non-spasmogenic fraction prepared from it were compared in rabbits. The paralytic action of the crude toxin was not due to its content of the non-spasmogenic fraction and was probably due to tetanospasmin itself. A convenient method for the preparation of a mixture of the 4 most abundant gangliosides is given. The preparation of a ganglioside/cerebroside complex and its use for the removal of tetanospasmin from a solution of crude tetanus toxin are described.