Molecular and Cellular Research Centre, Department of Immunology, Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Toxicon. 2012 Sep 1;60(3):385-90. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.04.348. Epub 2012 May 6.
The aim of the present study was to compare the toxic effects of the venoms from Hemiscorpius lepturus (H. lepturus), Androctonus crassicauda (A. crassicauda) and Mesobuthus eupeus (M. eupeus). For this purpose, three in vitro models were employed to compare the toxic effects of various concentrations of the venoms from these three scorpions, namely: hemolytic potential using human RBCs, phospholipase activity using Saubouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) supplemented with 2% egg yolk and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme releasing effect using K562 leukemia cell line. In addition, the neutralizing effectiveness of the antivenom against these toxic properties was assessed. The results showed that, unlike the venoms from A. crassicauda and M. eupeus, the venom from H. lepturus produced dose-dependent lysis of human RBCs and showed phospholipase activity. However, all the tested venoms showed variable degrees of LDH releasing properties. The venom from H. lepturus had highest and the venom from M. eupeus had the lowest LDH releasing effect. The antivenom effectively inhibited all the tested toxicities. In conclusion, these results suggest that the venoms from the studied scorpions have variable toxic properties, which may explain the underlying reason for the differences in their clinical manifestations. In addition, the antivenom was effective in neutralizing all the tested toxic effects.
本研究旨在比较三种蝎子（长尾蝎 Hemiscorpius lepturus、虎纹捕鸟蛛 Androctonus crassicauda 和东亚钳蝎 Mesobuthus eupeus）毒液的毒性作用。为此，采用三种体外模型比较了这三种蝎子毒液在不同浓度下的毒性作用，分别为：用人 RBC 测定溶血潜能、在含有 2%蛋黄和乳酸盐的萨布罗氏葡萄糖琼脂（SDA）上测定磷脂酶活性、用 K562 白血病细胞系测定乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）释放效应。此外，还评估了抗毒液对这些毒性作用的中和效果。结果表明，与 A. crassicauda 和 M. eupeus 的毒液不同，H. lepturus 的毒液对人 RBC 产生剂量依赖性的溶解作用，并表现出磷脂酶活性。然而，所有测试的毒液都显示出不同程度的 LDH 释放特性。H. lepturus 的毒液具有最高的 LDH 释放作用，而 M. eupeus 的毒液具有最低的 LDH 释放作用。抗毒液能有效抑制所有测试的毒性。总之，这些结果表明，研究的蝎子毒液具有不同的毒性作用，这可能解释了它们临床表现差异的原因。此外，抗毒液能有效中和所有测试的毒性作用。
