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J. Venom. Anim. Toxins incl. Trop. Dis.

V.21, 2015.

Original paper - ISSN 1678-9199.

 

Indian scorpions collected in Karnataka: maintenance in captivity, venom extraction and toxicity studies

 
Santhosh Kambaiah Nagaraj1, Pavana Dattatreya1, Thippeswamy Nayaka Boramuthi1

1 Department of Post-graduate Studies and Research in Microbiology, Jnana Sahyadri campus, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India.

 

ABSTRACT

Background

Maintenance of scorpions under laboratory conditions is ideal for long-term venom collection to explore the therapeutic applications of scorpion venom. Collection of venom by electrical stimulation requires a reliable stimulator and effective restrainer. Thus, the present study was conducted to develop a convenient method to maintain scorpions and to extract their venom for toxicity studies via a modified restrainer and stimulator.

 

Methods

Four different scorpion species were collected, among which three species were maintained in the laboratory in containers that mimic their natural habitat. Venom was extracted from Hottentotta rugiscutis by electrical stimulation at 8 V for 18 months and LD50 was estimated by the graphic method of Miller and Tainter.

 

Results

A total of 373 scorpions including Hottentotta rugiscutis, Hottentotta tamulus, Lychas tricarinatus and Heterometrus swammerdami were collected, identified and maintained successfully, achieving a 97 % survival rate. Hottentotta rugiscutis yielded 6.0 mL of venom by electrical stimulation. The LD50 of H. rugiscutis venom was estimated to be 3.02 mg/kg of body weight in female Swiss albino mice.

 

Conclusions

Scorpions were successfully maintained for 18 months. Herein we have also documented a simple, cost-effective method of venom extraction by electrical stimulation using a modified restrainer. Furthermore, Hottentotta rugiscutis was reported for the first time in Karnataka.

 

Key words: Scorpion venom Restrainer; Hottentotta Heterometrus; Venom extraction LD50

Ethics committee approval

All the experiments were performed according to the guidelines approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (National College of Pharmacy, Shivamogga, Karnataka; no: NCP/IAEC/CL/206/01).

 

Received: June 16, 2015; Revised: November 30, 2015; Accepted: December 4, 2015

 

Correspondence: nbtmicro@gmail.com

 

Competing interests

The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

 

Authors’ contributions

NBT, SKN and PD collected and maintained the scorpions in the laboratory during the study period. SKN and PD worked in the extraction of venom by the electrical stimulation method and drafted the manuscript. SKN designed the restrainer used in this study. PD did LD50 estimation. NBT provided the idea, gave supervision for experimental designs and finalized the manuscript. All authors approved the manuscript.