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) lowered the hemorrha gic activity of the venom alone in CD1 mice by 51.5 ± 2.6 %. Additionally, 1.7 mg extract L -1 plasma prolonged 5.1 times the plasma coagulation time. Fractionation of the extract led to the isolation of two compounds: ononitol (1) and quercetrin (2). The structure of compounds 1 and 2 was esta blished by spectroscopic analyses, including APCIHR MS and NMR ( 1 H, 13 C, HSQC, HMBC and COSY). A quercetrin concentration of 0.11 mmol L -1 prolonged the plasma coagulation time 2.6 times demonstrating that this compound was one of the active constituents of the Brownea rosademonte extract.

MESTIFAR 2014 28-30 November 2014, Panama City, Panama The CEIBA consortium was created within the Ibero-American network of Pharmacogenetics (RIBEF) to study population pharmacogenetics. The current status of these initiatives and results of the MESTIFAR project were analyzed in Panama, 28-30 November 2014. The MESTIFAR project focused on studying CYPs genetic polymorphisms in populations of different ethnic origin. So far, more than 6000 healthy volunteers have been evaluated, making this one of the largest population pharmacogenomic studies worldwide. Three symposia were organized, 'Pharmacogenetics of indigenous and mestizos populations and its clinical implications', 'Methodological innovation in pharmacogenetics and its application in health', and 'General discussion and concluding remarks', about mechanisms and proposals for training, diffusion of pharmacogenetics for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking health professionals, and 'bench to bedside' pilot projects.

Background The development of more effective antivenoms remains a necessity for countries where scorpionism is a public health problem. Also, the regionalization of antivenoms may be important for some countries with special scorpionism characteristics. Objective Production of antibodies capable of neutralizing the lethal effect of the venom of three scorpion species from Panama. Methods The primary structures of two neurotoxins from T. pachyurus, one from T. cerroazul and another from C. bicolor were elucidated using N-terminal amino acid degradation and Sanger gene cloned sequencing. The obtained mRNA transcripts were cloned and expressed using E. coli vectors. Different bacterial expression conditions were tested and the best culture conditions for each expressed protein is reported. The expressed scorpion toxins were purified by chromatographic methods and used as immunogens in rabbits. Results The antibodies produced under the reported immunization scheme show better neutralization (ED 50 ) than other reported commercial antivenoms used to neutralize similar species scorpion venoms under similar LD 50 conditions. Conclusion The information reported here shows the proof of concept for selecting recombinant immunogens with the ability to produce antibodies for neutralizing the lethal effects of the most important medical species of scorpions in Panama.

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