OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to investigate the amino-acid compositions of pharmacopuncture extracts taken from the body and from the tail of Buthus martensii Karsch, which are frequently prescribed in Oriental medicine. METHODS Amino acids in hot water and 70% ethanol extracts taken from the scorpion's whole body and from its tail were screened by using high performance liquid chromato...

Scorpions are "living but sophisticated fossils" that have changed little in their morphology since their first appearance over the past 450 million years ago. To provide a genetic resource for understanding the evolution of scorpion genome and the relationships between scorpions and other organisms, we first determined the genome size of the scorpion Mesobuthus martensii Karsch (about 600 Mbp)...

Hemiscorpius lepturus (H. lepturus), found in south-western areas of Iran and south of Iraq, is considered to be the most dangerous scorpion in the region, and poses a significant risk to the health of the indigenous population due to the unique, clinical manifestations associated with its sting.. In the present study, 36 patients from the Khuzestan province in the southwest of Iran, displaying...

OBJECTIVE Envenomation by Mesobuthus tamulus scorpion sting can result in serious cardiovascular effects. Scorpion antivenom is a specific treatment for scorpion sting. Evidence for the benefit of scorpion antivenom and its efficacy compared with that of commonly used vasodilators, such as prazosin, is scarce. We assessed the efficacy of prazosin combined with scorpion antivenom, compared with ...