RESUMO
Samples of Apis mellifera mellifera venom from different hives in two regions of the Buenos Aires province and its pool were analyzed for their lethal potency, myotoxic, defibrinogenating, hemolytic and inflammatory-edematizing activity and for the histological alterations they produce in the heart, lungs, kidneys, skeletal muscle and liver of mice. In vitro studies focused on the venom's hemolytic activity in different systems and species (horse, man, sheep and rabbit), the cytotoxicity in cellular lines, and on the proteolytic and coagulant activity in plasma and fibrinogen. Hemolytic activity, either observed in vitro or in vivo, showed similar toxicity levels for all samples. Erythrocytes of different species varied in their sensitivity to the venom pool, equines being the most sensitive and sheep the most resistant to direct hemolytic action. Local and systemic myotoxicity was evidenced by either the elevation of serum creatine kinase and/or histopathological lesions, observed in different muscles. All samples caused significant pathological alterations; pulmonary, cardiac, renal and skeletal muscle lesions were substantive and can be related to the pathophysiological mechanisms of envenomation. The venoms from different apiaries and regions of the Buenos Aires province showed very similar toxicological characteristics. These results suggest that severity of envenomation in case of a swarming could therefore be more related to the number of bees than to the differential toxicity of the venom from different regions of the province. This is the first study on the toxicity and toxicological characteristics of Apis mellifera venom in Argentina.
Assuntos
Venenos de Abelha , Abelhas , Animais , ArgentinaRESUMO
Las mordeduras producidas por serpientes venenosas son un serio problema médico en varias regiones del mundo y sobre las cuales los sistemas de salud actúan en diferentes grados en lo referente a tratamiento y prevención. Sin embargo, el tratamiento de las mordeduras de serpientes venenosas en animales domésticos puede resultar difícil por diversos motivos, siendo uno de estos la baja oferta o ausencia de antivenenos para uso veterinario. Las presiones comerciales en la industria farmacéutica han llevado a una reducción en la producción de antivenenos en varias partes del mundo, su disponibilidad es, a veces, bastante limitada y en algunos casos, son imposibles de conseguir. En este trabajo, inmunizamos caballos con veneno de serpientes Sudamericanas para obtener el plasma hiperinmune que fue procesado para obtener IgG entera o fragmentos F(ab´)2 usando dos métodos convencionales (fraccionamiento por ácido caprílico o doble precipitación salina y digestión con pepsina). Los antivenenos así obtenidos fueron probados en sus características bioquímicas e inmunoquímicas, así como en su potencia neutralizante. El SDS-PAGE de los antivenenos mostró bandas en el orden de los 150 y 100 kDa en los antivenenos conteniendo IgG entera o fragmentos F(ab´)2, respectivamente. La presencia de albúmina o contaminantes de alto o bajo peso molecular no fue detectada en ninguna de las preparaciones. No se observaron diferencias importantes en la potencia neutralizante de los antivenenos, aunque el costo de producción fue mucho más bajo en la obtención de IgG completa. A partir de esto, se sugiere que los bajos costos de producción en la obtención de antivenenos de IgG entera para uso veterinario, hacen a esta tecnología adecuada y rentable cuando la producción de F(ab´)2 no es posible.
Bites by venomous snakes are a serious medical problem in several regions of the world, on which the different health systems act with different modalities. Nevertheless, the treatment of venomous snakebites in domestic animals can turn difficult due several problems among which, the conspicuous, is the low availability or lack of antivenoms for veterinary use. As commercial pressures on the pharmaceutical industry have led to a reduction in the production of antivenins in several parts of the world, their availability is sometimes rather limited and sometimes these products are impossible to obtain. In this work, we immunized horses with venom of South American vipers to obtain hyperimmune plasma. The plasma was processed to separate whole IgG of F(ab´)2 fragments using two conventional methods (caprylic acid fractionation or double saline precipitation and pepsin digestion). The obtained antivenins were tested for their biochemical and immunochemical characteristics and neutralizing potency. The SDS-PAGE of the antivenins showed, in the processed antivenin, bands in the order of 150 and 100 kDa in the whole IgG or F(ab´)2 fragments, respectively. The presence of albumin or contaminants of high or low molecular weight was not detected in any of the preparations. No important differences were observed in the neutralizing potency of the antivenins, although production cost was very low with the method used to obtain pure IgG. The low production cost makes the production of antivenins for veterinary use profitable when the production of F(ab´)2 fragments is not possible.
