Короткий опис (реферат):
Nowadays, more than two billion inhabitants of underdeveloped tropical and subtropical countries are at risk of
being stung by scorpions. Scorpion stings annually cause 2000–3000 deaths as they can lead to the respiratory
and/or cardiovascular complications. Pathogenesis of lung damage under scorpion envenomation is often
comprehensive. Respiratory failure can have a cardiogenic origin, associated with venom neurotoxin action.
However, some venom components can stimulate pro-inflammatory signaling cascades followed by cytokines
synthesis, recruit and activate immune cells, participating in the inflammatory response in lung injury. Scorpions
of the Leiurus genus ("deathstalker") are one of the most dangerous Arthropoda. To date, 22 species of this genus
have been described, but the venom composition and the mechanisms of tissues damage under envenomation
have been studied to some extent only for L. quinquestriatus, L. hebraeus, and L. abdullahbayrami. Scorpions of L.
macroctenus species are expected to be very hazardous, but the possibility of their venom cause inflammation in
the lung tissue has not been investigated to date. Therefore, in this study, we focused on evaluating the levels of
cytokines and their regulators – transcription factors (HIF-1α and NF-κB) and growth factors (FGF-2, VEGF, and
EGF) – in rat lung homogenates after L. macroctenus envenomation. The results revealed a decrease in the levels
of most pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β and TNF-α) with simultaneous rise in the content of both
anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) and interferon-γ. Furthermore, the levels of all researched tran scription factors and growth factors were shown to be increased too. The detected changes peak occurred at 24 h,
whereas a tendency towards all indicators values normalization was observed in 72 h after venom injection.
Thus, our results did not reveal signs of a classic inflammatory process in the lungs of rats injected with
L. macroctenus venom. However, the obtained data indicate venom influence both on cytokine profile and on
their regulators content in the rat lungs, which is a feature of certain alterations in the innate immune response,
caused by studied venom components. But, the mechanisms of the changes we found require additional
researches.
