title: Antigenic Cross-Reactivity Anti-Birtoxin Antibody against Androctonus crassicauda Venom.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antivenom is still widely used in the treatment of envenomation as there are no vaccines or other effective agents available against animal venoms. Recently, neurotoxins named birtoxin family have been described from Parabuthus transvaalicus and Androctonus crassicauda. The aim of the present study was to test the anti-birtoxin antibodies for their ability to neutralize the lethal effects of A. crassicauda scorpion venom.
  
  
  METHODS
  SDS-PAGE and Western blotting used the presence of components from A. crassicauda and P. transvaalicus scorpion venoms and to determine the degree of cross-reactivity. The Minimum Lethal Dose (MLD) of venom was assessed by subcutaneously (sc) injections in mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MLD of the A. crassicauda venom was 35 μg/ 20g mouse by sc injection route. Western blotting showed the presence of components from A. crassicauda and P. transvaalicus scorpion venoms strongly cross react with the A. crassicauda antivenom. However, Western blotting of the A. crassicauda scorpion venom using the Refik Saydam Public Health Agency (RSPHA) generated antibody showed that not all the venom components cross reacted with the anti-birtoxin antibody. The antibodies only cross reacted with components falling under the 19 kDa protein size of A. crassicauda venom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The bioassays and Western blotting of A. crassicauda venom with the anti-birtoxin antibodies produced against a synthetic peptide showed that these antibodies cross reacted but did not neutralize the venom of A. crassicauda.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research-Innovation for life-Hollanda, Turkey.
authors.forename: Suhandan Adigüzel
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Van Zoelen
authors.affiliation: Drug and Medical Device Agency of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozcan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, USA.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Inceoglu
keywords: Androctonus crassicauda; Cross-reactivity; Venom; anti-birtoxin antibody