In Cuba the endemic species of scorpion Rhopalurus junceus has been used in traditional medicine for cancer treatment. However, there is little scientific evidence about its potential in cancer therapy. The effect of a range of scorpion venom concentrations (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1mg/ml) against a panel of human tumor cell lines from epithelial (Hela, SiHa, Hep-2, NCI-H292, A549, MDA-MB-231,...

in this study, effects of buthus eupeus venom on chick biventer cervices nerve-muscle preparation were investigated by twitch tension method. the venom, at 1.3 ?g/ml, increased contractile responses in indirect stimulations. these effects were milder in direct muscle stimulations. it also caused significant enhancement in postjunctional sensitivity as assessed by responses to exogenous acetylch...

In this study, effects of Buthus eupeus venom on chick biventer cervices nerve-muscle preparation were investigated by twitch tension method. The venom, at 1.3 ?g/ml, increased contractile responses in indirect stimulations. These effects were milder in direct muscle stimulations. It also caused significant enhancement in postjunctional sensitivity as assessed by responses to exogenous acetylch...

Scorpion venom is a complex combinatorial library of peptides and proteins with multiple biological functions. A combination of transcriptomic and proteomic techniques has revealed its enormous molecular diversity, as identified by the presence of a large number of ion channel-targeted neurotoxins with different folds, membrane-active antimicrobial peptides, proteases, and protease inhibitors. ...

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...

Scorpion venoms are complex polypeptide mixtures, the ion channel blockers and antimicrobial peptides being the best studied components. The coagulopathic properties of scorpion venoms are poorly studied and the data about substances exhibiting these properties are very limited. During research on the Heterometrus laoticus scorpion venom, we have isolated low-molecular compounds with anticoagul...

Predators feeding on toxic prey may evolve physiological resistance to the preys' toxins. Grasshopper mice (Onychomys spp.) are voracious predators of scorpions in North American deserts. Two species of grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus and Onychomys arenicola) are broadly sympatric with two species of potentially lethal bark scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda and Centruroides vittatus) in th...

The scorpion Iurus dufoureius asiaticus (Birula 1903) which is the largest scorpion in Europe and Turkey belongs to the family Iuridae and is endemic in Turkey. No data has been found about the venom components of I. d. asiaticus. In this study, the venom extract ob-tained from I. d. asiaticus specimens collected from Aydin were analyzed using the Tris tricine SDS-PAGE method. A total of 28 pro...

The crude venom of Mesobuthus gibbosus which is widely distributed in the Mediterranean region of Anatolia were investigated for its cytotoxic and gelatinolytic activities in vitro. Cytotoxic effects of the crude venom were examined in three different cell lines by MTT assay. 5RP7 is H-ras activated mouse fibroblasts, CO25 is N-ras activated mouse myoblasts and A549 is human adenocarcinomas cel...

Scorpion stings are common in Iran, particularly in the southern and southwest regions of the country, and they pose a serious health problem. Hemiscorpius lepturus is the most venomous scorpion in the region. The present study was conducted to investigate the in vivo effects of scorpion venom in experimental mice. Haematological parameters (white and red blood cells numbers and haematocrit lev...