Sphingomyelinases D (SMases D) from Loxosceles spider venom are the principal toxins responsible for the manifestation of dermonecrosis, intravascular hemolysis, and acute renal failure, which can result in death. These enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin, resulting in the formation of ceramide 1-phosphate and choline or the hydrolysis of lysophosphatidyl choline, generating the li...

Spider bite is common, but most spider bite is minor and causes nothing more than local irritation. Bites from brown recluse spiders (Loxosceles reclusa) result in several clinical manifestations, they possess a venom capable of causing painful, disfiguring necrotic ulcers and, uncommonly, severe systemic effects[1-3]. The diagnosis of a spider bite is typically made on historical and epidemiol...

mistaken for recluse spiders. Brown recluse and related recluse spiders (Loxosceles spp., Family Sicariidae) are, by far, the most commonly misidentified spiders in Colorado. Unfortunately, also greatly overdiagnosed are purported spider bites caused by brown recluse spiders – a situation perpetuated by many in the Colorado medical establishment as well as through self-diagnosis. Colorado hosts...