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Envenomation caused by Lonomia obliqua is a public health hazard in Southern Brazil. Envenomed victims present severe hemorrhagic syndrome that can progress to intracranial hemorrhage and death. To understand the mechanisms that lead to hemorrhage, we investigated the platelet dysfunction and blood coagulation disturbances following experimental envenomation in rats. L. obliqua bristle extract was...
The yams edible starchy tubers, are of cultural, economic and nutritional importance in tropical and subtropical regions. The present study concerns the analysis at different levels of Dioscorea antaly toxicity to medaka embryo-larval development. The incubation of medaka fish embryos in a medium containing Dioscorea antaly extract resulted in a dose dependent reduction in survival rate. Survival...
Ca 2+ ions are essential to myonecrosis, a serious complication of snake envenomation, and heparin seems to counteract this effect. We investigated the effect of local injection of Bothrops jararacussu venom in mouse fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle, without or with heparin, on functional/molecular alterations of two central proteins involved in intracellular Ca 2+ ...
Bivalve metabolites of saxitoxin analogues, not present in microalgae, were recently described as an important toxin fraction in mussels contaminated by Alexandrium tamarense. These possess very low fluorescence, and require mass spectrometry detection. HILIC–MS was implemented to look for these metabolites in bivalves contaminated during Gymnodinium catenatum blooms at the Portuguese coast. The presence...
We developed a novel silica coating magnetic nanoparticle-based silver enhancement immunoassay (SEIA) for ricin toxin (RT) rapid electrical detection using interdigitated array microelectrodes (IDAMs) as electrodes. This novel system was developed by taking advantage of the separation and enrichment properties of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and the catalytic properties of gold nanoparticles (GNPs)...
Intake of pavetamine, a novel polyamine, synthesized by certain rubiaceous plants, is the cause of gousiekte (“Quick disease”) in ruminants. The disease is characterized by a latent period of 4–8 weeks, followed by heart failure. The aim of this study was to firstly investigate the cytotoxicity in H9c2(2-1) cells using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) and...
The Ag5 proteins are the most abundant and immunogenic proteins in the venom secretory ducts of stinging insects. An antigen 5-like protein (named tabRTS) composed of 221 amino acid residues was purified and characterized from the salivary glands of the horsefly, Tabanus yao (Diptera, Tabanidae). Its cDNA was cloned from the cDNA library of the horsefly's salivary gland. TabRTS containing the SCP...
Phospholipases A 2 (PLA 2 s) with a lysine substituting for the highly conserved aspartate 49, Lys49 PLA 2 homologues, are important myotoxic components in venoms from snakes of Viperidae family. These proteins induce conspicuous myonecrosis by a catalytically-independent mechanism. Traditionally, the Lys49 PLA 2 homologues are classified as non-neurotoxic myotoxins...
The study of snake venom-induced local tissue pathology has been predominantly based on experimental designs and concepts that view tissue alterations from a dichotomous, homogeneous and reductionist perspective. Experimental observations, however, indicate that cells and extracellular matrix are affected by venoms and toxins in a complex and heterogeneous fashion, and that the effect of whole venoms...
Twenty-six Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata cultures were tested for intracellular domoic acid production and fourteen were found to be toxic. Four suboptimal growth conditions were compared with conditions observed to be optimal to explore possible triggers for intracellular domoic acid production. Silica- and phosphate-limitation and low light treatment induced elevated toxin concentrations whereas...
Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye, a jellyfish widely distributed in coastal areas of China, has garnered attention because of its stinging capacity and the resulting public health hazard. We used a recently developed technique to extract jellyfish venom from nematocysts; the present study investigates the lethality of C. nozakii venom. The nematocyst contents were extremely toxic to the grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon...
Currently cyanoprokaryotic algae, diatoms, haptophytes, dinoflagellates, euglenoids, and rhaphidophytes are known to produce algal toxins. A previous study by the authors reported euglenoid algae producing toxin(s) in aquaculture ponds, with confirmation based on positive fish bioassays following exposure to the isolated clonal algal cultures. Toxicity was observed in euglenoid culture isolates obtained...
Anatoxin-a(s) is a potent irreversible inhibitor of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase with a unique N-hydroxyguanidine methylphosphate ester chemical structure. Determination of this toxin in environmental samples is hampered by the lack of specific methods for its detection. Using the toxic strain of Anabaena lemmermani PH-160 B as positive control, the fragmentation characteristics of anatoxin-a(s)...
Major toxins from skin extracts of 18 specimens of six Atelopus toad species collected in Panama were analyzed. Chiriquitoxin was identified using 1 H NMR in A. limosus and A. glyphus for the first time. Zetekitoxin in A. zeteki and tetrodotoxin in A. varius, A. chiriquiensis and A. zeteki were identified again. Furthermore, A. certus was suggested to contain a water-soluble toxin other than...
Seeds of Crotalaria retusa containing 6.84% (dry weight) of monocrotaline (MCT) were administered experimentally to sheep. Three sheep that received 136.8mg MCT/kg bw daily for 70 days had no clinical signs. Five out of six sheep ingesting single doses of 205.2 and 273.6mg MCT/kg bw died with acute (three sheep) or chronic intoxication (two sheep). Acute intoxicated sheep had periacinar liver necrosis...
Alpha-toxin is the unique lethal virulent factor produced by Clostridium septicum, which causes traumatic or non-traumatic gas gangrene and necrotizing enterocolitis in humans. Here, we analyzed channel formation of the recombinant septicum alpha-toxin and characterized its activity on living cells. Recombinant septicum alpha-toxin induces the formation of ion-permeable channels with a single-channel...
Plants of Crotalaria genus (Leguminosae) present large amounts of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid monocrotaline (MCT) and cause intoxication to animals and humans. Therefore, we investigated the MCT-induced cytotoxicity, morphological changes, and oxidative and genotoxic damages to glial cells, using the human glioblastoma cell line GL-15 as a model. The comet test showed that 24h exposure to 1–500μM MCT...
Toxicity and liver tumor promotion of cyanotoxins microcystins have been extensively studied. However, recent studies document that other metabolites present in the complex cyanobacterial water blooms may also have adverse health effects. In this study we used rat liver epithelial stem-like cells (WB-F344) to examine the effects of cyanobacterial extracts on two established markers of tumor promotion,...
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