Which bacterial exotoxin is associated with food poisoning from S. aureus?

The bacterial exotoxin associated with food poisoning from Staphylococcus aureus is known as an enterotoxin. Staphylococcus aureus can produce several types of enterotoxins that are heat-stable and can survive the cooking process. These enterotoxins stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, leading to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping within a few hours after ingestion of contaminated food.

The mechanism of enterotoxins involves stimulating the vagus nerve and inducing local inflammatory responses in the gut, which results in the clinical symptoms seen in food poisoning. Foods commonly implicated include dairy products, meat, and salads, which can become contaminated during food handling.

Other types of exotoxins, while important in different bacterial infections, are not involved in the food poisoning caused by Staphylococcus aureus. For instance, aflatoxins are associated with fungal contamination rather than bacterial, neurotoxins are primarily linked with organisms like Clostridium botulinum, and cytotoxins are not specifically related to food poisoning from this bacterium. Thus, enterotoxin is distinctly recognized for its role in causing foodborne illness from Staphylococcus aureus.