Cholera Toxin

What is Cholera Toxin?

A substance produced by cholera bacteria in the small intestine that causes chloride ions to be secreted from the intestinal cells into the lumen. The resulting fall in the water potential of the lumen makes water move out of the blood and tissues into the intestine by osmosis, producing severe watery diarrhoea.

This definition is part of the Disease and Immunity chapter in Cambridge O Level Biology.

Concepts related to Cholera Toxin

• chloride ion
• water potential
• Osmosis