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Venom production facilities keep established colonies of captive snakes to obtain venom for research and antiserum production. Due to strict regulations of importation, some of these colonies are formed with only a small number of initial animals and consist of closely related individuals (sometimes siblings). To understand the effect of long-term captivity on the venom composition and its impact...
Detailed structures of N-linked oligosaccharides of Defibrase, a highly active thrombin like enzyme (TLE) purified from the venom of Agkistrodon acutus, were successfully characterized using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in combination with sequential exoglycosidase digestion. Monosaccharide composition analysis was performed by high performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric...
The aim of the present study was to investigate the cardiovascular activity of Scorpaena plumieri venom in both in vivo and in vitro models. In anesthetized rats, doses of the venom (14–216μg protein/kg) induced a transient increase in the mean arterial pressure. However at higher dose (338μg protein/kg) this effect was followed by a sudden hypotension and the animal evolved to death. The heart rate...
Microcystins (MCs) are toxic monocyclic heptapeptides produced by many cyanobacteria. Over 70 MCs have been successfully isolated and identified, of which MC-LR is the most commonly occurring toxin. Microcystins, especially MC-LR, cause toxic effects in mammals, birds and fish and are a recognized potent cause of environmental stress and pose a potential health hazard in aquatic ecosystems when heavy...
The subcellular distribution of okadaic acid, the main diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxin, in the cells of the digestive gland of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was studied. By means of differential centrifugation, ultrafiltration and extraction with methanol, it was found that most okadaic acid was stored in the cytosol. Notwithstanding only a small proportion of the total toxin was...
The Alagados Reservoir (Brazil) is an important source for the supply of water, recreation and fishery. Since 2002, the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms (paralytic shellfish toxins – PST producers) have been noted. This study was aimed at the monitoring of PST occurrence in the Reservoir's water and fish. Biomarkers such as ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), catalase...
Primary fractions from the extract of a tropical red alga mixed with filamentous cyanobacteria, collected from Papua New Guinea, were active in a neurotoxicity assay. Bioassay-guided isolation led to two natural products (1,2) with relatively potent calcium ion influx properties. The more prevalent of the neurotoxic compounds (1) was characterized by extensive NMR, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography,...
New advances in the use of NG108-15 cells for marine toxins detection and quantification are presented. We have established modifications on ouabain and veratridine proportion to obtain good toxins dose-response curves on this cell line for neurotoxins acting on voltage gated sodium channel (VGSC). Interesting, differences in the toxic response were observed between two VGSC activating toxins, brevetoxin-3...
Morphological evidence and data from comparisons of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial genes demonstrate considerable intraspecies variation among populations of the Japanese brown frog Rana tagoi Okada 1928 (Tago's brown frog). Five peptides with antimicrobial activity were isolated from an extract of the skins of specimens of Rana tagoi okiensis collected on the Oki Islands, Japan. Determination...
This paper reports on the determination of toxin profile of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected in November–December 2003 along the Emilia Romagna coasts (Italy) when a high concentration of Alexandrium ostenfeldii cells was detected in seawater. Detailed liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analyses were performed on the crude extracts in both selected ion monitoring (SIM) and...
This study has been undertaken to investigate the regional and seasonal variability in ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure of healthy population living in Black Sea and Mediterranean regions of Turkey by measuring serum OTA concentrations. The mean serum concentrations of OTA were determined to be 0.137ng/mL (0.0306–0.887ng/mL) and 0.312ng/mL (0.028–1.496ng/mL) in all samples for winter and summer, respectively...
Patulin (PAT) is a mycotoxin produced by certain species of Penicillium and Aspergillus. The aim of this study was to assess PAT-induced DNA damage and to clarify the mechanisms, using human hepatoma G2 (HepG2) cells. PAT caused significant increase of DNA migration in single cell gel electrophoresis assay. To elucidate the role of glutathione (GSH), the intracellular GSH level was modulated by pre-treatment...
Various toxins isolated from Bothrops snake venoms induce inflammatory reactions and have been claimed to contribute to the severity of local symptoms present in this envenomation. Notwithstanding, the relative participation of serine proteases, metalloproteases and phospholipases A 2 in the inflammatory reaction produced by crude Bothrops venoms is poorly understood. Herein, crude Bothrops...
To elucidate the involvement of plasma protein binding in the disposition of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in puffer fish, we used equilibrium dialysis to measure protein binding of TTX in the plasma of the marine puffer fish Takifugu rubripes and the non-toxic greenling Hexagrammos otakii, and in solutions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). TTX (100–1000μg/mL) bound to...
The renal kinetics of Bothrops alternatus venom (0.8 mg/kg, i.v.) was studied in conscious male Wistar rats. Blood, urine and renal tissue samples were collected at various intervals after envenoming. Venom was quantified by ELISA in serum, renal tissue and urine. Urine volume was measured and the urine assayed for urobilinogen, glucose, bilirubin, ketones, urine specific gravity, occult blood, pH,...
We provide a mitochondrial DNA-based phylogenetic hypothesis for 21 Tityus species collected in Venezuela, Trinidad, Brazil and Panama, including 12 taxa known to be toxic to humans. Our phylogenetic reconstruction is based on 850 nucleotides of the combined cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 16S rRNA genes for most species, and centered on Venezuelan scorpions owing to the detailed taxonomic and biogeographic...
Karenia brevis, the major harmful algal (HA) species in the Gulf of Mexico, produces a suite of brevetoxins and brevenal, a nontoxic brevetoxin antagonist. K. brevis growth is reported to be optimum at oceanic conditions, yet blooms are most problematic in coastal waters. Differences in growth rate, total brevetoxin production, brevetoxin profiles and brevenal production were evaluated among eight...
Hemostatically active snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) perturb the blood coagulation cascade at specific points and due to their potential application as thrombolytic agents, the fibrin(ogen)olytic non-hemorrhagic SVMPs have been employed as biochemical tools in coagulation research and diagnosis. Structural studies complemented by the design of metalloproteinase inhibitors have been instrumental...
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