A proteomic overview of the major venom components from Tityus championi from Panama.

In recent years, morbidity caused by scorpion sting of the species Tityus championi has increased in Panama. Therefore, the LD50 was determined by intravenous injection in 2.9 mg/kg and the venom of T. championi was separated using a HPLC system and their fractions were tested for biological activities in mice to identify the most toxic fractions to mammals. In addition, the venom fractions were also tested against invertebrates to look for insect-specific toxin peptides. The most toxic fractions were analyzed by MS/MS spectrometry. The primary structures of T. championi venom peptides with the most relevant activity were obtained, and the primary structure of one of most neurotoxic peptides was found at least in other four species of Tityus from Panama. This neurotoxin is quite important to be used as a protein target to be neutralized if developing antivenoms against the sting of this Panamanian scorpion or other relevant species of genera Tityus in the country.

Heterologous expression of four recombinant toxins from Panamanian scorpions of the genus Tityus and Centruroides for production of antivenom.

BACKGROUND: The development of more effective antivenoms remains a necessity for countries where scorpionism is a public health problem. Also, the regionalization of antivenoms may be important for some countries with special scorpionism characteristics. OBJECTIVE: Production of antibodies capable of neutralizing the lethal effect of the venom of three scorpion species from Panama. METHODS: The primary structures of two neurotoxins from T. pachyurus, one from T. cerroazul and another from C. bicolor were elucidated using N-terminal amino acid degradation and Sanger gene cloned sequencing. The obtained mRNA transcripts were cloned and expressed using E. coli vectors. Different bacterial expression conditions were tested and the best culture conditions for each expressed protein is reported. The expressed scorpion toxins were purified by chromatographic methods and used as immunogens in rabbits. RESULTS: The antibodies produced under the reported immunization scheme show better neutralization (ED50) than other reported commercial antivenoms used to neutralize similar species scorpion venoms under similar LD50 conditions. CONCLUSION: The information reported here shows the proof of concept for selecting recombinant immunogens with the ability to produce antibodies for neutralizing the lethal effects of the most important medical species of scorpions in Panama.

Venoms of Centruroides and Tityus species from Panama and their main toxic fractions.

The scorpionism in Panama is notorious for the confluence and coexistence of buthid scorpions from the genera Centruroides and Tityus. This communication describes an overview of the larger representative toxic venom fractions from eight dangerous buthid scorpion species of Panama: Centruroides (C. granosus, C. bicolor, C. limbatus and C. panamensis) and Tityus (T. (A.) asthenes, T. (A.) festae, T. (T.) cerroazul and T. (A.) pachyurus). Their venoms were separated by HPLC and the corresponding sub-fractions were tested for lethality effects on mice and insects. Many fractions toxic to either mice or insects, or both, were found and have had their molecular masses determined by mass spectrometry analysis. The great majority of the lethal components had a molecular mass close to 7000 Da, assumed to be peptides that recognize Na+-channels, responsible for the toxicity symptoms observed in other buthids scorpion venoms. A toxic peptide isolated from the venom of T. pachyurus was sequenced by Edman degradation, allowing the synthesis of nucleotide probe for cloning the correspondent gene. The mature toxin based on the cDNA sequencing has the C-terminal residue amidated, contains 62 amino acid packed by 4 disulfide linkages, with molecular mass of 7099.1 Da. This same toxic peptide seems to be present in scorpions of the species T. pachyurus collected in 5 different regions of Panama, although the overall HPLC profile is quite different. The most diverse neurotoxic venom components from the genus Centruroides were found in the species C. panamensis, whereas T. cerroazul was the one from the genus Tityus. The most common neurotoxins were observed in the venoms of T. festae, T. asthenes and T. pachyurus with closely related molecular masses of 7099.1 and 7332 Da. The information reported here is considered very important for future generation of a neutralizing antivenom against scorpions from Panama. Furthermore, it will contribute to the growing interest in using bioactive toxins from scorpions for drug discovery purposes.

Population pharmacogenetics of Ibero-Latinoamerican populations (MESTIFAR 2014).

MESTIFAR 2014 28-30 November 2014, Panama City, Panama The CEIBA consortium was created within the Ibero-American network of Pharmacogenetics (RIBEF) to study population pharmacogenetics. The current status of these initiatives and results of the MESTIFAR project were analyzed in Panama, 28-30 November 2014. The MESTIFAR project focused on studying CYPs genetic polymorphisms in populations of different ethnic origin. So far, more than 6000 healthy volunteers have been evaluated, making this one of the largest population pharmacogenomic studies worldwide. Three symposia were organized, 'Pharmacogenetics of indigenous and mestizos populations and its clinical implications', 'Methodological innovation in pharmacogenetics and its application in health', and 'General discussion and concluding remarks', about mechanisms and proposals for training, diffusion of pharmacogenetics for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking health professionals, and 'bench to bedside' pilot projects.

Evaluation of anti-Bothrops asper venom activity of ethanolic extract of Brownea rosademonte leaves.

Significant inhibition of the coagulant and hemorrhagic effects of Bothrops asper venom was demonstrated by ethanolic extract prepared from the leaves of Brownea rosademonte. In vitro experiments preincubating 5.5 mg of extract kg-1 b.m. for 30 min with a minimum hemorrhagic dose of venom (273.8 ± 16.1 µg of venom kg-1 b.m.) lowered the hemorrhagic activity of the venom alone in CD-1 mice by 51.5 ± 2.6 %. Additionally, 1.7 mg extract L-1 plasma prolonged 5.1 times the plasma coagulation time. Fractionation of the extract led to the isolation of two compounds: ononitol (1) and quercetrin (2). The structure of compounds 1 and 2 was established by spectroscopic analyses, including APCI-HRMS and NMR (1H, 13C, HSQC, HMBC and COSY). A quercetrin concentration of 0.11 µmol L-1 prolonged the plasma coagulation time 2.6 times demonstrating that this compound was one of the active constituents of the Brownea rosademonte extract.