title: Vascular responses elicited by venom of Arabian catfish (Arius thallasinus).
abstract: The Arabian catfish produces venoms from the skin (SV) and glands near the pectoral spines (GV). 1. The venoms have a high protein concentration, only limited amounts of lipid, carbohydrate and nucleic acid. Enzyme activities included alkaline phosphatase and esterases. Both SV and GV induce hemolysis. 2. SV and GV induced a dose-dependent smooth muscle contraction of human umbilical artery preparations. This response was competitively inhibited by atropine, suggesting a cholinergic response. 3. Heat treatment of GV did not decrease activity, while heating SV reduced it. 4. In-vivo experiments showed mainly a depressor response in rat and guinea-pig.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004798:Enzymes / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005397:Fish Venoms / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D005397:Fish Venoms