Buthotus schach is one of the most dangerous scorpions in tropical part of Iran. The effects of its crude venom at 1, 3, 10 μg/mL and its obtained fractions by gel filtrations were investigated on neuromuscular transmission. CBC and MHD indirectly and directly stimulated preparations techniques were used to study their possible pre or post junctional activities. At 3 and 10 μg/mL (not at 1 μg/m...

More than 500 species of marine snails comprise the genus Conus, and all are venomous predators. The venom of a typical cone snail contains small post-translationally modified peptides, many of which are directed towards voltageand ligand-gated ion channels and receptors with exquisite specificity (Olivera, 1997). A complex mixture of peptide toxins is produced in a long tubular venom duct cont...

BACKGROUND Scorpion venom is important and rich source of peptides, most of which have been widely used as pharmacological tools for unraveling structure-function relationship of various ion channels. Naturally occurring toxins can be also considered as lead compounds in the development of novel drugs. OBJECTIVES In this context, the scorpion-derived peptide neurotoxins specific to sodium cha...

As recombinant viruses expressing scorpion toxins are moving closer toward the market, it is important to obtain large amounts of pure toxin for biochemical characterization and the evaluation of biological activity in nontarget organisms. In the past, we purified a large amount of Androctonus australis anti-insect toxin (AaIT) present in the venom of A. australis with an analytical reversed-ph...

Eighty micrograms red blood cell (RBC) ghosts from patients who had previously exhibited the cutaneous form of loxoscelism (presenting localized dermonecrosis) and the viscerocutaneous form of loxoscelism (presenting dermonecrosis, hemoglobinuria, hematuria, and jaundice) and from controls were incubated with 2.5 microg crude Loxosceles gaucho venom in 5 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, at 37 C. Am...

Background: Increasing antimicrobial resistance of microbes is one the leading challenges faced by medical community and human health. This study focused on a local scorpion species (Buthus sindicus) Pakistan known for its potent antibiotic properties against Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methodology: Venom extracted from Buthus sindicus tested A. P. aerug...

A combination of narrow range isoelectric focusing, electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel, and gel exclusion on Sephadex reveals the presence of at least 9, possibly 11 isoenzymes of phospholipase A in Naja naja (cobra) venom. Their isoelectric points range from pH 4.60 to 5.66 and their molecular weights from 8,500 to 20,200. The most abundant form (isoelectric point = pH 4.95) has been isolat...

The severe bleeding diathesis produced by intoxication with the venom of Lonomia achelous caterpillars is characterized by prolonged bleeding from superficial skin wounds as well as massive hemorrhage into body cavities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the crude venom and its fibrinolytic fractions on in vitro lysis of whole blood clots. Venom fractions with fibrinoly...