Stonefish antivenom neutralises the inflammatory and cardiovascular effects induced by scorpionfish Scorpaena plumieri venom

Abstract

Venomous fish are often involved in human accidents and symptoms of envenomation include local (intense pain and swelling) and systemic effects (cardiovascular and neurological disorders). However the only commercially available antivenom is against the Indo-Pacific stonefish Synanceja trachynisStonefish Antivenom (SFAV). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential of SFAV in neutralising the in vivo effects of some toxic activities of scorpionfish Scorpaena plumieri venom (SpV), and the in vitro immuno cross-reactivity. The SpV (7.5-100 μg/animal) caused nociceptive and dose-dependent edematogenic responses in the mice footpad. In rats SpV (300 μg/kg, i.v.) produced immediate and transient increase in arterial blood pressure and decrease in heart rate. Prior incubation of SpV with SFAV (1 μg SpV/1 U SFAV) abolished the inflammatory response, and significantly attenuated the cardiovascular effects induced by SPV. Western blotting analysis on two-dimensional SDS-PAGE of S plumieri venom proteins using SFAV proved that the epitopes recognized by SFAV are shared with the ∼98 kDa proteins. This is the first report of venom similarities between Indo-Pacific and Atlantic venomous fish, suggesting that the SpV compound responsible for inflammatory and cardiovascular effects possesses similar biochemical and antigenic properties to those found in stonefish venom.

A review on the Scorpaena plumieri fish venom and its bioactive compounds

“…This analysis revealed about two hundred protein spots (6 to 120 kDa) with a predominance of anionic proteins [29]. A similar molecular weight range has been described for the protein components of other fish venoms [30–32].…”

“…SpV was found to perform lethal, hemolytic, cardiovascular, inflammatory, integrin-binding-inhibitory and proteolytic activities [20, 22–24, 27, 29]. This spectrum of activities — observed in experimental animals — resembles those of other fish venoms previously described [1, 2].…”

“…Experiments conducted using the mice paw test have shown that the injection of SpV into the footpad induces intense edema that is time- and dose-dependent [29]. In contrast, a pronounced nociceptive response reaches a plateau at low doses (≥15 μg/paw) [29].…”

“…Experiments conducted using the mice paw test have shown that the injection of SpV into the footpad induces intense edema that is time- and dose-dependent [29]. In contrast, a pronounced nociceptive response reaches a plateau at low doses (≥15 μg/paw) [29]. This inflammatory response is characterized by a release of pivotal pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF, IL-6 and MCP-1) that may be associated with histopathological changes observed in paw tissue, distinguished by cellular infiltration of mainly neutrophils followed by mononuclear cells after 12 h [23].…”

“…SFAV neutralizes all known clinical effects of serious S. trachynis envenomation [64], and is also efficient in neutralising the inflammatory and cardiovascular responses as as well as the hemolytic activity induced by S. plumieri in mice [29], suggesting that the compounds responsible for these effects share similar biochemical and antigenic properties to those found in stonefish venom. This antivenom also neutralises some of the toxic effects of other stonefish ( S. verrucosa ), lionfish ( Pterois volitans, P. lunulata, P. antennata and Dendrochirus zebra ) and soldierfish ( Gymnapistes marmoratus ) [51, 65, 66].…”