Antigenic cross-reactivity among the venoms from several species of Brazilian scorpions

The venoms of seven species of scorpions living in different regions of Brazil were analysed with regard to their lethality, antigenic cross-reactivity and ability to induce antibody production. In mice, the tested scorpion venoms can be grouped as: (a) highly toxic: Tityus stigmurus Thorell (), Tityus bahiensis (Perty) , Tityus serrulatus Lutz and Mello (, and Tityus costatus (Karsch) ; (b) moderately toxic: Tityus cambridgei Pocock ; and (c) practically nontoxic: Rhopalurus agamemnon (Koch) , and Brotheas amazonicus Lourenço . On electrophoresis the venoms showed many protein bands displayed along the chromatogram, most of them cross-reacting in immunoelectrophoresis and immunoblotting using horse anti-T. serrulatus, anti-T. bahiensis or anti-T. serrulatus + T. bahiensis sera as probes. The antibodies present in these antivenoms combine with venom components as measured in vitro by the ELISA assay, and neutralize their lethal effects in vivo. These results indicate that horse antivenoms against a mixture of T. serrulatus and T. bahiensis venoms or only against T. serrulatus venom yield an antibody population able to neutralize the toxic effects found in all venoms studied.