Androctonus genus species in arid regions: Ecological niche models, geographical distributions, and envenomation risk

Hidan, Moulay Abdelmonaim El; Touloun, Oulaid; Bouazza, Abdellah; Laaradia, Mehdi Ait; Boumezzough, Ali

doi:10.14202/vetworld.2018.286-292

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Another medically important species, A . bicolor , is distributed across a wide geographical range from NA to the ME (as far as Morocco in the west and Syria in the east) [ 95 ]. However, human contact with this scorpion appears to be rare [ 78 ].…”

Section: Main Species Responsible For Severe Envenomingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial venomous animals, the envenomings they cause, and treatment perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa

et al. 2021

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The Middle East and Northern Africa, collectively known as the MENA region, are inhabited by a plethora of venomous animals that cause up to 420,000 bites and stings each year. To understand the resultant health burden and the key variables affecting it, this review describes the epidemiology of snake, scorpion, and spider envenomings primarily based on heterogenous hospital data in the MENA region and the pathologies associated with their venoms. In addition, we discuss the venom composition and the key medically relevant toxins of these venomous animals, and, finally, the antivenoms that are currently in use to counteract them. Unlike Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, scorpion stings are significantly more common (approximately 350,000 cases/year) than snakebites (approximately 70,000 cases/year) and present the most significant contributor to the overall health burden of envenomings, with spider bites being negligible. However, this review also indicates that there is a substantial lack of high-quality envenoming data available for the MENA region, rendering many of these estimates speculative. Our understanding of the venoms and the toxins they contain is also incomplete, but already presents clear trends. For instance, the majority of snake venoms contain snake venom metalloproteinases, while sodium channel–binding toxins and potassium channel–binding toxins are the scorpion toxins that cause most health-related challenges. There also currently exist a plethora of antivenoms, yet only few are clinically validated, and their high cost and limited availability present a substantial health challenge. Yet, some of the insights presented in this review might help direct future research and policy efforts toward the appropriate prioritization of efforts and aid the development of future therapeutic solutions, such as next-generation antivenoms.

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Section: Main Species Responsible For Severe Envenomingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial venomous animals, the envenomings they cause, and treatment perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa

et al. 2021

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“…However, the chemical and pharmacological properties of their venoms are still poorly studied, compared to what is currently known about the Androctonus australis and Androctonus mauretanicus venoms. The three Pasteur Institutes in Maghreb have largely added to our knowledge of the Androctonus mauretanicus and Androctonus australis venoms, their main objective being the production of specific and efficient antivenoms for serotherapy purposes [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serotherapy against Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel-Targeting α-Toxins from Androctonus Scorpion Venom

Martin‐Eauclaire

Adi-Bessalem

Hammoudi-Triki

et al. 2019

Toxins

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Because of their venom lethality towards mammals, scorpions of the Androctonus genus are considered a critical threat to human health in North Africa. Several decades of exploration have led to a comprehensive inventory of their venom components at chemical, pharmacological, and immunological levels. Typically, these venoms contain selective and high affinity ligands for the voltage-gated sodium (Nav) and potassium (Kv) channels that dictate cellular excitability. In the well-studied Androctonus australis and Androctonus mauretanicus venoms, almost all the lethality in mammals is due to the so-called α-toxins. These peptides commonly delay the fast inactivation process of Nav channels, which leads to increased sodium entry and a subsequent cell membrane depolarization. Markedly, their neutralization by specific antisera has been shown to completely inhibit the venom’s lethal activity, because they are not only the most abundant venom peptide but also the most fatal. However, the structural and antigenic polymorphisms in the α-toxin family pose challenges to the design of efficient serotherapies. In this review, we discuss past and present accomplishments to improve serotherapy against Androctonus scorpion stings.

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“…However, the mean diurnal range, slope, wettest quarter precipitation, and warmest quarter were associated with A. liouvillei distribution. While A. amoreuxi was related to the mean temperature of the driest quarter, mean diurnal range, and slope [46]. In this study, according to the MaxEnt modeling, the important climatic factor in the presence of H. lepturus was the maximum temperature of the warmest month.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…The area under an ROC curve was calculated 0.950±0.025, 0.988±0.006, and 0.969±0.007 for A. amoreuxi, A. liouvillei, and A. mauritanicus, respectively [46]. Brites-Neto and Duarte [38] reported AUC=0.7698±0.0533 for Tityus serrulatus and pointed to high predictive success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Presence probability of Hemiscorpius lepturus Peters, 1861 using maximum entropy approach in the western areas of Zagros Mountains, Iran

et al. 2020

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Aim: The purpose of this research was to use environmental variables for predicting the probability of Hemiscorpius lepturus existence in the provinces where situated in the west of the Zagros Mountains. Materials and Methods: In this study, 64 occurrence records of the H. lepturus were extracted from the published documents available in electronic databases. MaxEnt model was used for predicting the ecological niches of this species. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and 19 climatic variables were used as the environmental variables affecting the distribution of this scorpion. The Jackknife test in the model was used to indicate the importance of variables to predict the probability of the presence of the studied species. The logistic threshold that was evaluated using a logistic regression algorithm showed the converting of the probability model into a binary model. The model was evaluated by area under the curve (AUC). The probability presence map of this scorpion was then prepared in ArcGIS 10.5 Software. Results: The results of the analysis showed that the most important environmental factor on the distribution of H. lepturus was the maximum temperature of the warmest month (Bio5) with a contribution rate of 43% and permutation importance of 8%. The Jackknife test revealed that NDVI did not gain any value when it used independently in the model. The logistic threshold was reported 0.255 for the maximum test sensitivity plus specificity. The AUC of the model was 0.7698, shows an acceptable value for model validity. Overall the hot spots for this toxic scorpion seem to be in Khuzestan, Lorestan, and Ilam Provinces of the studied area. Conclusion: Regarding our findings, MaxEnt algorithm, in combination with geographic information system contributed to revealing the effects of environmental variables on the probability of H. lepturus presence in the west of Zagros Mountains. These visualized maps as a warning alarm can be helpful to policymakers for managing, controlling, and monitoring the scorpionism in high-risk areas.

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Androctonus genus species in arid regions: Ecological niche models, geographical distributions, and envenomation risk

Cited by 11 publications

References 28 publications

Terrestrial venomous animals, the envenomings they cause, and treatment perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa

Terrestrial venomous animals, the envenomings they cause, and treatment perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa

Serotherapy against Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel-Targeting α-Toxins from Androctonus Scorpion Venom

Presence probability of Hemiscorpius lepturus Peters, 1861 using maximum entropy approach in the western areas of Zagros Mountains, Iran

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