Painful venoms are used to deter predators. Pain itself, however, can signal damage and thus serves an important adaptive function. Evolution to reduce general pain responses, although valuable for preying on venomous species, is rare, likely because it comes with the risk of reduced response to tissue damage. Bark scorpions capitalize on the protective pain pathway of predators by inflicting i...

Scorpion venom heat-resistant peptide (SVHRP) is a component purified from Buthus martensii Karsch scorpion venom. Our previous studies found SVHRP could enhance neurogenesis and inhibit microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in vivo. Here, we use the transgenic CL4176, CL2006, and CL2355 strains of Caenorhabditis elegans which express the human Aβ1-42 to investigate the effects and the possible ...

By screening extracts of venom from the Asian scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK) for their abilities to activate opioid receptors, we have identified BmK-YA, an amidated peptide containing an enkephalin-like sequence. BmK-YA is encoded by a precursor that displays a signal sequence and contains four copies of BmK-YA sequences and four of His(4)-BmK-YA, all flanked by single amino acid resid...

Scorpions are amongst the most ancient arthropods, as the oldest fossils were dated from the late silurian (Proscorpius osborni, 418 million years B.P.) [1]. Extant scorpions (with about 2,000 species spreading globally) are therefore 'living fossils', which retained all of the primitive features except that they are considerably smaller compared to their up to 1-meter long Brontoscorpio anglic...

the effect of odonthobuthos doriae (o.d) scorpion venom at 0/3, 1 and 3, 10 µg/ml concentrations were investigated on nerve-muscle transmission, using the twitch tension technique. a concentration of 0.3 µg/ml caused a small change in the twitch height in response to indirect muscle stimulation, but higher concentrations (1, 3, 10 µg/ml) caused a transient augmentation in twitch response follow...

Peptides from scorpion venom have been previously studied for use in the prevention and treatment of various types of cancer in folk medicine. The present study investigated the anti-proliferative effects and mechanisms of the low molecular weight (~3 kDa) BmK scorpion venom peptides (LMWSVP) on human hepatoma (SMMC 7721) and cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. The data indicated that LMWSVP inhib...

The further characterization of toxin I from venom of the scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing (region, Southwestern United States) is reported. Toxin I is a single palypeptide chain of 64 amino acid residues crosslinked by four disulfide bridges. The complete amino acid sequence of toxin I was deduced from the sequence of its tryptic peptides and overlaps provided by its chymotryptic pepti...

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints as well as other organs in the body. Adjuvant-induced arthritis models in inbred rats serve as relevant models for RA, having many clinical similarities to this disease. Using honey bee venom as a treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis is an ancient therapy in various parts of the world. However scorpion ve...

introduction: androctonus crassicauda is one of the most dangerous scorpions in the world. this kind of scorpion which is found in tropical regions has been responsible for stinging people which result in dangerous side effects and even death. the study of the effects of this scorpion venom on some laboratory animals can determine the rate of pathological changes in tissue and may help to treat...

Scorpion stings are a common occurrence in Saudi Arabia. The majority of cases present with local pain at the site of envenomation, and follow a benign clinical course. Severe systemic toxicity and mortality are uncommon. Reported deaths have been attributed to a primary effect of the venom on the cardiovascular system. Toxicity of envenomation varies between species and within the same species...