Botulinum neurotoxin: both poison and medicine. Botulinum therapy and iatrogenic botulism

Abstract

Botulinum neurotoxin (BnT) is the most potent of all the poisons known to the world. Over the past two centuries, its structure and functions have been studied in detail, it is obtained in its pure form. Knowledge of the mechanisms of action of BnT has determined two directions of its possible use: negative, as a biological (toxin) weapon, and positive - as a drug that eliminates pathological muscle hypertonicity, neuropathic pain and can be used for aesthetic purposes ("beauty injections"). The lecture gives a chronology of the development of both directions and a detailed analysis of the medical use of BnT both therapeutically and cosmetically. Particular attention is paid to the side effects of botulinum therapy and ways to overcome them.