The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases最新文献

{"title":"<i>In situ</i> cellular immune response in non-ulcerated skin lesions due to <i>Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi</i> infection.","authors":"Carmen Sandoval,&nbsp;Gabriela Araujo,&nbsp;Wilfredo Sosa,&nbsp;Sara Avalos,&nbsp;Fernando Silveira,&nbsp;Carlos Corbett,&nbsp;Concepción Zúniga,&nbsp;Marcia Laurenti","doi":"10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0149","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Skin lesions of patients affected by non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) caused by <i>L. (L.) infantum chagasi</i> are characterized by lymphohistiocytic inflammatory infiltrate associated with epithelioid granuloma and scarce parasitism. However, the <i>in situ</i> cellular immune response of these patients is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize the cellular immune response in the skin lesions of patients affected by NUCL.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty biopsies were processed by immunohistochemistry using primary antibodies to T lymphocytes (CD4, CD8), NK cells, B lymphocytes, macrophages, nitric oxide synthase and interferon-gamma.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Immunohistochemistry revealed higher expression of all cellular types and molecules (IFN-γ, iNOS) in the dermis of diseased skin compared to the skin of healthy individuals (p < 0.05). Morphometric analysis performed in the skin lesions sections showed the predominance of CD8⁺ T lymphocytes in the mononuclear infiltrate, followed by macrophages, mostly iNOS⁺, a response that could be mediated by IFN-γ.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study improves knowledge of the cellular immune response in non-ulcerated or atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by <i>L. (L.) infantum chagasi</i> in Central America and pointed to the pivotal participation of CD8⁺ T lymphocytes in the host defense mechanisms against the parasite in patients with NUCL.</p>","PeriodicalId":520810,"journal":{"name":"The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases","volume":" ","pages":"e20200149"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2021-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7909480/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25468567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maintenance of venomous snakes in captivity for venom production at Butantan Institute from 1908 to the present: a scoping history.","authors":"Kathleen Fernandes Grego,&nbsp;Samira Emanuela Maria Vieira,&nbsp;Jarbas Prado Vidueiros,&nbsp;Eliana de Oliveira Serapicos,&nbsp;Cibele Cíntia Barbarini,&nbsp;Giovanni Perez Machado da Silveira,&nbsp;Fabíola de Souza Rodrigues,&nbsp;Lucas de Carvalho Francisco Alves,&nbsp;Daniel Rodrigues Stuginski,&nbsp;Luciana Carla Rameh-de-Albuquerque,&nbsp;Maria de Fátima Domingues Furtado,&nbsp;Anita Mitico Tanaka-Azevedo,&nbsp;Karen de Morais-Zani,&nbsp;Marisa Maria Teixeira da Rocha,&nbsp;Wilson Fernandes,&nbsp;Sávio Stefanini Sant'Anna","doi":"10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Maintenance of snakes at Butantan Institute started in the last century, intending to produce a different antivenom serum to reduce death caused by snakebites. Through a successful campaign coordinated by Vital Brazil, farmers sent venomous snakes to Butantan Institute by the railway lines with no cost. From 1908 to 1962, the snakes were kept in an outdoor serpentarium, where venom extraction was performed every 15 days. During this period, the snake average survival was 15 days. In 1963, the snakes were transferred to an adapted building, currently called Laboratory of Herpetology (LH), to be maintained in an intensive system. Although the periodicity of venom extraction remained the same, animal average survival increased to two months. With the severe serum crisis in 1983, the Ministry of Health financed remodeling for the three public antivenom producers, and with this support, the LH could be improved. Air conditioning and exhausting systems were installed in the rooms, besides the settlement of critical hygienic-sanitary managements to increase the welfare of snakes. In the early 1990s, snake survival was ten months. Over the years to the present day, several improvements have been made in the intensive serpentarium, as the establishment of two quarantines, feeding with thawed rodents, an interval of two months between venom extraction routines, and monitoring of snake health through laboratory tests. With these new protocols, average snake survival increased significantly, being eight years for the genus <i>Bothrops</i>, ten years for genus <i>Crotalus</i> and <i>Lachesis,</i> and four years for the genus <i>Micrurus</i>. Aiming the production of venoms of good quality, respect for good management practices is essential for the maintenance of snakes in captivity. New techniques and efficient management must always be sought to improve animal welfare, the quality of the venom produced, and the safety of those working directly with the venomous snakes.</p>","PeriodicalId":520810,"journal":{"name":"The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases","volume":" ","pages":"e20200068"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2021-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7856910/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25382705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design, synthesis, and evaluation of <i>Bothrops</i> venom serine protease peptidic inhibitors.","authors":"Gloria Maria da Silva,&nbsp;Daniel Henrique Berto de Souza,&nbsp;Karoline B Waitman,&nbsp;Matteo Celano Ebram,&nbsp;Melissa R Fessel,&nbsp;Iuliu Cezar Zainescu,&nbsp;Fernanda C Portaro,&nbsp;Montse Heras,&nbsp;Sonia A de Andrade","doi":"10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In Central and South America, snakebite envenomation is mainly caused by <i>Bothrops</i> spp. snakes, whose venoms feature significant biochemical richness, including serine proteases. The available bothropic antivenoms are efficient in avoiding fatalities, but do not completely neutralize venom serine proteases, which are co-responsible for some disorders observed during envenomation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In order to search for tools to improve the antivenom's, 6-mer peptides were designed based on a specific substrate for <i>Bothrops jararaca</i> venom serine proteases, and then synthesized, with the intention to selectively inhibit these enzymes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Using batroxobin as a snake venom serine protease model, two structurally similar inhibitor peptides were identified. When tested on <i>B. jararaca</i> venom, one of the new inhibitors displayed a good potential to inhibit the activity of the venom serine proteases. These inhibitors do not affect human serine proteases as human factor Xa and thrombin, due to their selectivity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study identified two small peptides able to inhibit bothropic serine proteases, but not human ones, can be used as tools to enhance knowledge of the venom composition and function. Moreover, one promising peptide (pepC) was identified that can be explored in the search for improving <i>Bothrops</i> spp. envenomation treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":520810,"journal":{"name":"The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases","volume":" ","pages":"e20200066"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2021-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7810238/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"38854138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dehydrobufotenin extracted from the Amazonian toad <i>Rhinella marina</i> (Anura: Bufonidae) as a prototype molecule for the development of antiplasmodial drugs.","authors":"Felipe Finger Banfi,&nbsp;Gabriela Camila Krombauer,&nbsp;Amanda Luisa da Fonseca,&nbsp;Renata Rachide Nunes,&nbsp;Silmara Nunes Andrade,&nbsp;Millena Alves de Rezende,&nbsp;Mariana Helena Chaves,&nbsp;Evaldo Dos Santos Monção,&nbsp;Alex Guterres Taranto,&nbsp;Domingos de Jesus Rodrigues,&nbsp;Gerardo Magela Vieira,&nbsp;Whocely Victor de Castro,&nbsp;Fernando de Pilla Varotti,&nbsp;Bruno Antonio Marinho Sanchez","doi":"10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0073","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The resistance against antimalarial drugs represents a global challenge in the fight and control of malaria. The Brazilian biodiversity can be an important tool for research and development of new medicinal products. In this context, toxinology is a multidisciplinary approach on the development of new drugs, including the isolation, purification, and evaluation of the pharmacological activities of natural toxins. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity, as well as the antimalarial activity <i>in silico</i> and <i>in vitro</i> of four compounds isolated from <i>Rhinella marina</i> venom as potential oral drug prototypes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Four compounds were challenged against 35 target proteins from <i>P. falciparum</i> and screened to evaluate their physicochemical properties using docking assay in Brazilian Malaria Molecular Targets (BraMMT) software and <i>in silico</i> assay in OCTOPUS® software. The <i>in vitro</i> antimalarial activity of the compounds against the 3D7 <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> clones were assessed using the SYBR Green I based assay (IC₅₀). For the cytotoxic tests, the LD₅₀ was determined in human pulmonary fibroblast cell line using the [3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] (MTT) assay.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All compounds presented a ligand-receptor interaction with ten <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>-related protein targets, as well as antimalarial activity against chloroquine resistant strain (IC₅₀ = 3.44 μM to 19.11 μM). Three of them (dehydrobufotenine, marinobufagin, and bufalin) showed adequate conditions for oral drug prototypes, with satisfactory prediction of absorption, permeability, and absence of toxicity. In the cell viability assay, only dehydrobufotenin was selective for the parasite.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Dehydrobufotenin revealed to be a potential oral drug prototype presenting adequate antimalarial activity and absence of cytotoxicity, therefore should be subjected to further studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":520810,"journal":{"name":"The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases","volume":" ","pages":"e20200073"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2021-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7812938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25315536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}