In vivo neurotoxicity of Androctonus australis hector scorpion venom: evidence that the supra-thoracic nervous system is not implicated in the clinical manifestations.
The severity of scorpion stings is related to the highly active neurotoxins in the venom. In this study, rats whose supra-spinal central nervous system was deprived of its peripheral connections were experimentally poisoned by the venom of Androctonus australis hector scorpion. Clinical signs of severity were not modified when the rats had previously undergone high medullar section. These results suggest that the supra-thoracic nervous system is not implicated in the neurotoxicity manifestations of scorpion envenomation.
Université de la Méditerranée, CNRS UMR 6560, Laboratoire de Biochimie et d'Ingénierie des Protéines, IFR Jean-Roche, Faculté de Médecine Secteur Nord, Bd P. Dramard, 13916 Cedex 20, Marseille, Franc.e
O
O
Clot-Faybesse
C
C
Devaux
H
H
Rochat
R
R
Guieu
D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008297:Male; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D013997:Time Factors
D009498:Neurotoxins; D012604:Scorpion Venoms