A STUDY ON THE EXPERIMENTAL ENVENOMATION WITH THE VENOM OF Tityus serrulatus (SCORPIONES; BUTHIDAE)  FROM STATE OF BAHIA, BRAZIL

SILVA, T.F.(1), DIAZ, D.(1), CASAIS E SILVA, L.L.(1,2), BARBOSA, A.(3), LIRA-DA-SILVA, R.M.(1)

(1)Departamento de Zoologia, UFBA, (1,2)Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública (EBMSP), (3)CPGM, FIOCRUZ, Bahia

Most of the actions of the Tityus serrulatus venom are indirect and due to derangement of ion channels that result on abnormal release of adrenergic and cholinergic neurotransmitters. In the severe human poisoning by this specie, pulmonary edema is a frequent finding and the cause of death. In Bahia, despite the clinical features observed on T. serrulatus accidents be also similar to other reports, it can be stood out the benignity of the accidents. Nevertheless, between the few severe cases (7%) only vomiting was observed and no lung edema was registered. The present work was designed to characterize the effect of Bahia’s T. serrulatus venom (TSV) as for their lethal, neurotoxic activities and the ability to induce lung injury. Groups of rats were inoculated with TSV (400 mg/Kg, i.v.) and observed for 1 hour to investigate the behavior related to neurotoxic effects. After  1 hour, these animals were dead by decapitation. Pulmonary edema was assessed by determination of lung weight of experimental group in relation of control animal injected with saline solution. The clinical observation showed salivation (55,6%), agitation (50%), piloerection (50%) and tachypnea (22,2%). All lungs from rats injected with TSV showed no anatomo-pathological alteration and no significant statistical differences between experimental and control lungs weight. TSV was also not toxic since no death was observed on DL₅₀ assay in mice. These results confirm the absence of pulmonary edema on scorpion accidents in Bahia and showed a regional variation of the venom of T. serrulatus.

CORRESPONDENCE TO:

Rejâne Maria Lira-da-Silva, Alameda Carrara, Nº 170, Apartamento 103, Salvador, BA, CEP: 41850-090, Brasil, Email: rejane@ufba.br