The fraction (venom B) of spine venom from the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) caused contractions of the uterus of rats and enhanced vascular permeability in rabbits. The venom B-induced contraction of the smooth muscle was depressed by inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis such as indomethacin or aspirin, but not by the anticholinergic agent, atropine. The fraction with the uter...

The chitosan nanoparticles used widely as a drug delivery systems recently. In the present study the Echis carinataus snake venom loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared based on ionic gelation of tripolyphosphate and chitosan. The nanoparticles physicochemical characteristics, stability and biological activity of encapsulated venom were studied. The particles were spherical in shape and th...

In this study, the venom extract of five viper species (Vipera xanthina, Vipera ammodytes, Vipera kaznakovi, Vipera wagneri and Vipera lebetina) collected from various regions of Turkey was subjected to polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis. No pressure was applied to the venom glands to provide venom extract. Important differences were detected among the electrophoretic patterns of venom protein...

The venom of several species of poisonous snakes acts to spread India ink through the skin as do the spreading factors procurable from certain tissues and elaborated by invasive bacteria. The factor is most abundant in the venom of the Viperidae (rattlesnake) family and relatively scant in the venom of Colubridae proteroglypha (cobra) family, and it is absent from toad venom. Extracts of the su...

Bumblebee venom allergies, though uncommon among the broad public, pose a significant risk in plant industry and scientific occupation. Since a significant IgE cross-reactivity between bumblebee and honeybee venom has been described in several cases and bumblebee venom for immunotherapy has been available only from a few suppliers, SIT with honeybee venom was frequently used for bumblebee venom...

Ants cause a series of accidents involving humans. Such accidents generate different reactions in the body, ranging from a mild irritation at the bite site to anaphylactic shock, and these reactions depend on the mechanism of action of the venom. The study of animal venom is a science known as venomics. Through venomics, the composition of the venom of several ant species has already been chara...

Snake venom has been hypothesized to have originated and diversified through a process that involves duplication of genes encoding body proteins with subsequent recruitment of the copy to the venom gland, where natural selection acts to develop or increase toxicity. However, gene duplication is known to be a rare event in vertebrate genomes, and the recruitment of duplicated genes to a novel ex...

Cnidarians may negatively impact human activities and public health but concomitantly their venom represents a rich source of bioactive substances. Pelagia noctiluca is the most venomous and abundant jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea and possesses a venom with hemolytic and cytolytic activity for which the mechanism is largely unknown. Here we show that exposure of mammalian cells to crude ven...

Many strategies have been developed to improve vaccine delivery in the past decade. The aim of the current study was to develop a nanoparticulate system based on ionic gelation between chitosan and tripolyphosphate in order to load Androctonus Crassicauda scorpion venom. The best formulation was selected according to the highest association efficiency, loading capacity, optimum particle size an...

Background: Aggressive behaviors in human and experimental animals have previously been described following induced pain. Aggression in rodents has been attributed to genetic and environmental factors, such as pain. A major complication of scorpion envenomation is severe pain in animals and humans. Considering that envenomation by black scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda) induces severe pain, th...