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Martins JG, de Castro Figueiredo Bordon K, Moreno-González JA, Almeida B, Pardal P, Lira A, Candido D, Arantes EC, Procópio R. On the noxious black Amazonian scorpion, Tityus obscurus (Scorpiones, Buthidae): Taxonomic notes, biology, medical importance and envenoming treatment. Toxicon 2023; 228:107125. [PMID: 37054995 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Tityus obscurus has caused mild, moderate and severe accidents of medical relevance in the eastern Brazilian Amazon and French Guiana. Tityus obscurus has sexual dimorphism although males and females have uniform black coloration. In the Amazon, one of the habitats of this scorpion is seasonally flooded forests (igapós and várzeas). However, most stings occur in terra firme forest areas (non-flooded region), where most rural communities are located. Adults and children stung by T. obscurus may experience an "electric shock" sensation for more than 30 h after the sting. Our data shows that people inhabiting remote forest areas, including rubber tappers, fishermen and indigenous people, with no access to anti-scorpion serum, use parts of native plants, such as seeds and leaves, against pain and vomiting caused by scorpion stings. Although there is a technical effort to produce and distribute antivenoms in the Amazon, many cases of scorpion stings are geographically unpredictable in this region, due to the lack of detailed knowledge of the natural distribution of these animals. In this manuscript, we compile information on the natural history of T. obscurus and the impact of its envenoming on human health. We identify the natural sites that host this scorpion in the Amazon, in order to warn about the risk of human envenoming. The use of specific antivenom serum is the recommended treatment for accidents involving venomous animals. However, atypical symptoms not neutralized by the available commercial antivenom are reported in the Amazon region. Facing this scenario, we present some challenges to the study of venomous animals in the Amazon rainforest and possible experimental bottlenecks and perspectives for establishing a method aimed at producing an efficient antivenom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Gama Martins
- Pós-Graduação em Genética, Conservação e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, AM, Brazil.
| | - Karla de Castro Figueiredo Bordon
- Departamento de Ciências BioMoleculares, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Jairo A Moreno-González
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History New York, Central Park West at 79th Street, 10024-5192, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Bruno Almeida
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Itaituba, PA, Brazil
| | - Pedro Pardal
- Laboratório de Entomologia Médica e Animais Peçonhentos, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - André Lira
- Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Centro de Educação e Saúde, Cuité, PB, Brazil
| | - Denise Candido
- Laboratório de Artrópodes, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Eliane Candiani Arantes
- Departamento de Ciências BioMoleculares, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Rudi Procópio
- Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia e Recursos Naturais da Amazônia, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (UEA), Manaus, AM, Brazil
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Kalapothakis Y, Miranda K, Molina DAM, Conceição IMCA, Larangote D, Op den Camp HJM, Kalapothakis E, Chávez-Olórtegui C, Borges A. An overview of Tityus cisandinus scorpion venom: Transcriptome and mass fingerprinting reveal conserved toxin homologs across the Amazon region and novel lipolytic components. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 225:1246-1266. [PMID: 36427608 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.11.185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Tityus cisandinus, a neglected medically important scorpion in Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazonia, belongs to a complex of species related to the eastern Amazon endemic Tityus obscurus, spanning a distribution of ca. 4000 km. Despite high morbidity and mortality rates, no effective scorpion antivenom is currently available in the Amazon region. Knowledge of the structural/functional relationships between T. cisandinus venom components and those from related Amazonian species is crucial for designing region-specific therapeutic antivenoms. In this work, we carried out the first venom gland transcriptomic study of an Amazonian scorpion outside Brazil, T. cisandinus. We also fingerprinted its total venom through MALDI-TOF MS, which supported our transcriptomic findings. We identified and calculated the expression level of 94 components: 60 toxins, 25 metalloproteases, five disulfide isomerases, three amidating enzymes, one hyaluronidase, and also uncovered transcripts encoding novel lipolytic beta subunits produced by New World buthid scorpions. This study demonstrates the high similarity between T. cisandinus and T. obscurus venoms, reinforcing the existence of a neglected complex of genetically and toxinologically related Amazonian scorpions of medical importance. Finally, we demonstrated the low recognition of currently available therapeutic sera against T. cisandinus and T. obscurus venoms, and concluded that these should be improved to protect against envenomation by Amazonian Tityus spp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Kalapothakis
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Kelton Miranda
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Denis Alexis Molina Molina
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Izabela Mamede Costa Andrade Conceição
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Débora Larangote
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Huub J M Op den Camp
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, NL-6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Evanguedes Kalapothakis
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Carlos Chávez-Olórtegui
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Adolfo Borges
- Instituto de Medicina Experimental, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela; Centro para el Desarrollo de la Investigación Científica, CEDIC, Asunción 1255, Paraguay.
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Venomics of the Scorpion Tityus ocelote (Scorpiones, Buthidae): Understanding Venom Evolution in the Subgenus Archaeotityus. Int J Pept Res Ther 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10989-022-10476-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Moreno-González JA, Pinto-da-Rocha R, Gallão JE. Bringing order to a complex system: phenotypic and genotypic evidence contribute to the taxonomy of Tityus (Scorpiones, Buthidae) and support the description of a new species. Zookeys 2021; 1075:33-75. [PMID: 35046751 PMCID: PMC8671714 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1075.67459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a molecular phylogenetic analysis including a survey for overlooked phenotypic characters. Based on both analysis and characters a new cave-dwelling species is described: Tityus (Tityus) spelaeussp. nov. from the Russão II cave, Posse, state of Goiás, Central Brazil. Characters such as the glandular regions of the female pectinal basal piece and basal middle lamellae of pectines, and the distribution of the ventral setae of telotarsi I-IV proved to be useful to constructing the taxonomy of species and species groups of Tityus. The new species is a member of the Tityustrivittatus species-group of Tityus (Tityus) and can be readily recognized by the immaculate coloration pattern and the more developed glandular region on the female pectinal basal piece. In addition, we provide a discussion of the phylogenetic relationships observed within Tityus, on the relevance of the new phenotypic characters to the modern taxonomy of the genus Tityus, and to the records of Brazilian cave scorpions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jairo A Moreno-González
- Instituto de Biociências - Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Zoologia. Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321, 005508-900, São Paulo, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| | - Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha
- Instituto de Biociências - Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Zoologia. Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321, 005508-900, São Paulo, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| | - Jonas E Gallão
- Instituto de Biociências - Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Zoologia. Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321, 005508-900, São Paulo, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
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Borges A, Graham MR, Cândido DM, Pardal PPO. Amazonian scorpions and scorpionism: integrating toxinological, clinical, and phylogenetic data to combat a human health crisis in the world's most diverse rainfores. J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis 2021; 27:e20210028. [PMID: 34887908 PMCID: PMC8629433 DOI: 10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2021-0028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Venom from Amazonian scorpions of the genus Tityus contains components capable of eliciting a distinct clinical, mostly neurological, syndrome. This contrasts with the mainly autonomic manifestations produced after envenomation by congeneric southern and northern South American species. Herein, we summarize Pan-Amazonian scorpionism by synthesizing available toxinological, clinical, and molecular data gathered from all affected areas in Amazonia, including Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and French Guiana. We searched multiple databases, as well as our own records, for reports of scorpion envenomations in Amazonia by confirmed Tityus spp., and compared the clinical manifestations. To help uncover clinical and venom relationships among problematic species, we explored phylogenetic relationships with a rate-calibrated analysis of mitochondrial COI data from available species. The possible existence of diversity gradients for venom toxic and immunogenic components despite the predicted strong phylogenetic association among species is underscored by discussed clinical and toxinological findings. A multicentric effort, involving all nations affected by this neglected disease, is urgently needed to offer alternatives for treating and understanding this pathology, including the preparation of neutralizing antibodies with a broad range of efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo Borges
- Center for the Development of Scientific Research (CEDIC), Asunción,
Paraguay
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Toxins and Receptors, Institute
of Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela,
Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Matthew R. Graham
- Department of Biology, Eastern Connecticut State University,
Willimantic, CT, United States
| | | | - Pedro P. O. Pardal
- Laboratory of Medical Entomology and Venomous Animals, Center of
Tropical Medicine, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Belém, PA, Brazil
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Amado TF, Moura TA, Riul P, Lira AFDA, Badillo-Montaño R, Martinez PA. Vulnerable areas to accidents with scorpions in Brazil. Trop Med Int Health 2021; 26:591-601. [PMID: 33560566 DOI: 10.1111/tmi.13561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To identify areas that present a higher risk of exposure to accidents with scorpions in Brazil. METHODS We used techniques of spatial prioritisation to determine the most vulnerable localities to envenomation by four scorpion species. Our prioritisation integrated ecological niche models with health investment, antivenin availability, access to health care facilities and metrics of human impact data. RESULTS The ecological niche models indicated that three scorpion species (Tityus bahiensis, Tityus serrulatus, and Tityus stigmurus) are more associated with human population density, while T. obscurus demonstrated a strong association with temperature variations during the year. Spatial prioritisation indicated that the areas with higher risk exposure to accidents with scorpions are in northern and northeastern Brazil. Alternatively, more isolated but densely populated areas in the southeastern and central regions also emerged as a priority. CONCLUSION Mapping areas where humans are more likely to interact with scorpions can assist in the design of efficient public health policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talita Ferreira Amado
- Laboratório de Pesquisas Integrativas em Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil.,Biodiversity and Macroecology Lab, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Thais Andrade Moura
- Laboratório de Pesquisas Integrativas em Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil
| | - Pablo Riul
- Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
| | - André Felipe de Araujo Lira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal Tropical, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Raúl Badillo-Montaño
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecologia A, C, Xalapa-Enríquez, Mexico
| | - Pablo Ariel Martinez
- Laboratório de Pesquisas Integrativas em Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil
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Borges A, Lomonte B, Angulo Y, Acosta de Patiño H, Pascale JM, Otero R, Miranda RJ, De Sousa L, Graham MR, Gómez A, Pardal PP, Ishikawa E, Bonilla F, Castillo A, de Avila RAM, Gómez JP, Caro-López JA. Venom diversity in the Neotropical scorpion genus Tityus: Implications for antivenom design emerging from molecular and immunochemical analyses across endemic areas of scorpionism. Acta Trop 2020; 204:105346. [PMID: 31982434 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Scorpions of the Neotropical genus Tityus are responsible for most severe envenomations in the Caribbean, South America, and Lower Central America (LCA). Although Tityus is taxonomically complex, contains high toxin polymorphism, and produces variable clinical manifestations, treatment is limited to antivenoms produced against species with restricted distributions. In this study, we explored the compositional and antigenic diversity of Tityus venoms to provide improved guidelines for the use of available antivenoms at a broader geographic scale. We used immunoblotting, competitive ELISA, and in vivo studies to compare reactivity against commercial antivenoms from Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, as well as MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, cDNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses to assess venom sodium channel-active toxin (NaTx) content from medically important Tityus populations inhabiting Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Additionally, we raised rabbit antibodies against Tityus venoms from LCA to test for cross-reactivity with congeneric species. The results suggest that Tityus spp. possess high venom antigenic diversity, underlying the existence of four toxinological regions in Tropical America, based on venom composition and immunochemical criteria: LCA/Colombia/Amazonia (Region I), Venezuela (Region II), southeast South America (Region III), and a fourth region encompassing species related to toxinologically divergent Tityus cerroazul. Importantly, our molecular and cross-reactivity results highlight the need for new antivenoms against species inhabiting Region I, where scorpions may produce venoms that are not significantly reactive against available antivenoms.
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Iserson KV, Jagit Ramcharran SD. Black Scorpion (Tityus obscurus) Fatalities in Guyana and a Literature Review. J Emerg Med 2019; 57:554-559. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2019.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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