Screening of antidotes from natural oriental drugs for botulinum neurotoxin type A

We prospected the antidotes from natural oriental drugs for botulinum neurotoxin type A. The crude extracts of Galla Rhois and Geranii Herba showed a potent antidote activity for botulinum neurotoxin type A. The antidote titer of the crude extracts of black tea was higher than those of Galla Rhois and Geranii Herba. No antidote activity was detected in the crude extracts of the followings : Gambir, Rosae Multiflorae Fructus, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Sophorae Flos, Puerariae Radix, Houttuyniae Herba, Swertiae Herba, Galla Halepensis. Although both Galla Rhois and Galla Halepensis are gall-apples and contain tannin as the main component. Galla Rhois showed the potent antidote activity while Galla Halepensis did not.