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Temperature-dependent inhibition of evoked acetylcholine release in tick paralysis

Nature volume 263, pages 693–695 (1976)Cite this article

Abstract

IN AUSTRALIA, the tick Ixodes holocyclus can produce a potentially fatal, flaccid paralysis in various hosts, including man, apparently due to the secretion of a neurotoxin1,2. In other parts of the world other species of ticks can produce a similar syndrome3, but it is not yet clear whether the pathogenesis of the paralysis is the same in all cases. We have found that the paralysis produced by I. holocyclus is due to a temperature-dependent inhibition of evoked release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction.

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Author notes

  1. I. SPENCE

    Present address: Roche Research Institute of Marine Pharmacology, PO Box 255, Dee Why, New South Wales, 2099, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006

    B. J. COOPER

  2. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, 2003

    I. SPENCE

Authors
  1. B. J. COOPER
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  2. I. SPENCE
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COOPER, B., SPENCE, I. Temperature-dependent inhibition of evoked acetylcholine release in tick paralysis. Nature 263, 693–695 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263693a0

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