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Advances in Hematology 2019Brown recluse spider (BRS) envenomation can lead to significant morbidity through severe local reaction and systemic illness including acute hemolytic anemia,...
BACKGROUND
Brown recluse spider (BRS) envenomation can lead to significant morbidity through severe local reaction and systemic illness including acute hemolytic anemia, rhabdomyolysis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), and even death. We aim to describe the clinical features and the roles of antibiotics and steroids in the treatment of loxoscelism.
METHODS
We retrospectively identified nine patients (pts) at our institution who were admitted with moderate to severe loxoscelism. A chart review was performed to highlight important clinical features and effect of interventions.
RESULTS
Nine pts (age 18 to 53) presented with fever (6), rash (9), pain/swelling (4), and jaundice (2). Of these, 6 pts had antecedent spider bites documented. Five pts were discharged from Emergency Room (ER) with oral antibiotics for "cellulitis" and were readmitted with severe systemic symptoms, with almost half (45%) of the pts being admitted to the intensive care unit. The most common admission diagnosis was sepsis secondary to cellulitis (6). Four pts developed worsening dermonecrosis, and 3 received prompt incision and drainage (I&D) with debridement. Hemolytic anemia developed around day 5 after spider bite (average); the lowest mean hemoglobin level was 5.8g/dL, with average drop of 3.1 g/dL. Direct antiglobulin test (DAT) (for both complement and surface immunoglobulin) was positive in 4 out of 9 patients. Four pts received glucocorticoid therapy for their hemolytic anemia. The use of steroid and intravenous immunoglobulin (IV Ig) did not seem to show a difference in the time of recovery although those who received steroids required less blood transfusion (2.1 units less). All pts had a complete recovery within two weeks.
CONCLUSION
Treatment of systemic loxoscelism involves aggressive supportive care including appropriate wound management, blood transfusions, intravenous fluid replacement, and appropriate antibiotic coverage. It is unclear at this time if glucocorticoids or IVIg has any beneficial impact on the treatment of severe loxoscelism.
PubMed: 31015839
DOI: 10.1155/2019/4091278 -
Toxins Sep 2018Diagnostic tests for arachnid accidents remain unavailable for patients and clinicians. Together with snakes, these accidents are still a global medical concern, and are... (Review)
Review
Diagnostic tests for arachnid accidents remain unavailable for patients and clinicians. Together with snakes, these accidents are still a global medical concern, and are recognized as neglected tropical issues. Due to arachnid toxins' fast mechanism of action, quick detection and quantification of venom is required to accelerate treatment decisions, rationalize therapy, and reduce costs and patient risks. This review aims to understand the current limitations for arachnid venom identification and quantification in biological samples. We benchmarked the already existing initiatives regarding test requirements (sample or biomarkers of choice), performances (time, detection limit, sensitivity and specificity) and their validation (on animal models or on samples from envenomed humans). Our analysis outlines unmet needs for improving diagnosis and consequently treatment of arachnid accidents. Hence, based on lessons from past attempts, we propose a road map for raising best practice guidelines, leading to recommendations for future progress in the development of arachnid diagnostic assays.
Topics: Animals; Antivenins; Biological Assay; Diagnostic Tests, Routine; Humans; Spider Bites; Spider Venoms
PubMed: 30201918
DOI: 10.3390/toxins10090365 -
Anales de Pediatria Oct 2021
PubMed: 33495089
DOI: 10.1016/j.anpedi.2020.12.005 -
Emergency (Tehran, Iran) 2014More than 40,000 species of spiders have been identified in the world. Spider bites is a common problem among people, however few of them are harmful but delay in... (Review)
Review
More than 40,000 species of spiders have been identified in the world. Spider bites is a common problem among people, however few of them are harmful but delay in treatment can cause death. Since the spider bites are risk full to human, they should be taken seriously, especially in endemic areas. Our objective in this review was to study about poisonous spiders and find out treatments of them. Therefore, we collected related articles from PubMed database and Google Scholar. Three important syndromes caused by spider bites are loxoscelism, latrodectism and funnel web spider syndrome. Many treatments are used but much more studies should have done to decrease the mortality. In this review, we describes different venomous spiders according to their appearance, symptoms after their bites and available treatments.
PubMed: 26495347
DOI: No ID Found -
Toxins Apr 2017Latrodectism or envenomation by widow-spiders is common and clinically significant worldwide. Alpha-latrotoxin is the mammalian-specific toxin in the venom that results... (Review)
Review
Latrodectism or envenomation by widow-spiders is common and clinically significant worldwide. Alpha-latrotoxin is the mammalian-specific toxin in the venom that results in toxic effects observed in humans. Symptoms may be incapacitating and include severe pain that can persist for days. The management of mild to moderate latrodectism is primarily supportive while severe cases have variously been treated with intravenous calcium, muscle relaxants, widow-spider antivenom and analgesic opioids. The object of this systematic review is to examine the literature on the clinical effectiveness of past and current treatments for latrodectism. MEDLINE, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched from 1946 to December 2016 to identify clinical studies on the treatment of latrodectism. Studies older than 40 years and not in English were not reviewed. There were only two full-publications and one abstract of placebo-controlled randomised trials on antivenom use for latrodectism. Another two randomised comparative trials compared the route of administration of antivenom for latrodectism. There were fourteen case series (including two abstracts), fourteen case reports and one letter investigating drug treatments for latrodectism with the majority of these also including antivenom for severe latrodectism. Antivenom with opioid analgesia is often the major treatment reported for latrodectism however; recent high quality evidence has cast doubt on the clinical effectiveness of this combination and suggests that other treatments need to be investigated.
Topics: Animals; Antivenins; Humans; Spider Bites; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 28430165
DOI: 10.3390/toxins9040148 -
Toxicon : Official Journal of the... May 2018Antibody technologies are being increasingly applied in the field of toxinology. Fuelled by the many advances in immunology, synthetic biology, and antibody research,... (Review)
Review
Antibody technologies are being increasingly applied in the field of toxinology. Fuelled by the many advances in immunology, synthetic biology, and antibody research, different approaches and antibody formats are being investigated for the ability to neutralize animal toxins. These different molecular formats each have their own therapeutic characteristics. In this review, we provide an overview of the advances made in the development of toxin-targeting antibodies, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different antibody formats in relation to their ability to neutralize toxins, pharmacokinetic features, propensity to cause adverse reactions, formulation, and expression for research and development (R&D) purposes and large-scale manufacturing. A research trend seems to be emerging towards the use of human antibody formats as well as camelid heavy-domain antibody fragments due to their compatibility with the human immune system, beneficial therapeutic properties, and the ability to manufacture these molecules cost-effectively.
Topics: Animals; Antibodies; Antivenins; Camelus; Humans; Recombinant Proteins; Venoms
PubMed: 29534892
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.03.004 -
Toxicon : Official Journal of the... Mar 2021Antivenom is the only effective therapy for treating any envenomation. Despite its obvious public health importance, the laborious process of procuring, distributing and... (Review)
Review
Antivenom is the only effective therapy for treating any envenomation. Despite its obvious public health importance, the laborious process of procuring, distributing and controlling the quality of such immunobiologicals is being neglected. Brazil is fully self-sufficient in the production of antivenoms. Since the 1950s, Loxoscelism, a syndrome with an onset after a spider bite from specimens of the Loxosceles genus occurs, is considered a public health issue. The Brazilian history in developing antivenom therapy, its production hindrances, and other challenges are discussed in this paper, as well as some promising novelties that can improve production and processing of Loxosceles antivenom.
Topics: Animals; Antivenins; Brazil; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; Spider Bites; Spider Venoms; Spiders
PubMed: 33465358
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.01.004 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Aug 2022Senses form the interface between animals and environments, and provide a window into the ecology of past and present species. However, research on sensory behaviours by...
Senses form the interface between animals and environments, and provide a window into the ecology of past and present species. However, research on sensory behaviours by wild frugivores is sparse. Here, we examine fruit assessment by three sympatric primates (, and ) to test the hypothesis that dietary and sensory specialization shape foraging behaviours. and groups are comprised of dichromats and trichromats, while all are trichomats. We use anatomical proxies to examine smell, taste and manual touch, and opsin genotyping to assess colour vision. We find that the frugivorous spider monkeys () sniff fruits most often, omnivorous capuchins (), the species with the highest manual dexterity, use manual touch most often, and that main olfactory bulb volume is a better predictor of sniffing behaviour than nasal turbinate surface area. We also identify an interaction between colour vision phenotype and use of other senses. Controlling for species, dichromats sniff and bite fruits more often than trichromats, and trichromats use manual touch to evaluate cryptic fruits more often than dichromats. Our findings reveal new relationships among dietary specialization, anatomical variation and foraging behaviour, and promote understanding of sensory system evolution.
Topics: Animals; Cebus; Color Perception; Color Vision; Diet
PubMed: 35975434
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0847 -
Toxins Dec 2022Bites of spiders can lead to a set of clinical manifestations called loxoscelism, and are considered a public health problem in many regions. The signs and symptoms of... (Review)
Review
Bites of spiders can lead to a set of clinical manifestations called loxoscelism, and are considered a public health problem in many regions. The signs and symptoms of loxoscelism are divided into cutaneous and systemic forms. The former is more frequent and includes signs of envenoming at the bite site or neighboring regions. Systemic loxoscelism, although much less frequent, is associated with complications, and can even lead to death. It may include intravascular hemolysis, acute renal failure, and thrombocytopenia. venoms are enriched with phospholipases D (PLDs), which are a family of isoforms found at intra-species and inter-species levels. Under experimental conditions, these enzymes reproduce the main clinical signs of loxoscelism, including an exacerbated inflammatory response at the bite site and dermonecrosis, as well as thrombocytopenia, intravascular hemolysis, and acute renal failure. The role of PLDs in cutaneous loxoscelism was described over forty years ago, when studies identified and purified toxins featured as sphingomyelinase D. More recently, the production of recombinant PLDs and discoveries about their structure and mechanism has enabled a deeper characterization of these enzymes. In this review, we describe these biochemical and functional features of PLDs that determine their involvement in systemic loxoscelism.
Topics: Animals; Hemolysis; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; Phospholipase D; Spider Venoms; Protein Isoforms; Thrombocytopenia; Spiders; Spider Bites
PubMed: 36668837
DOI: 10.3390/toxins15010017 -
Toxins Oct 2020The scorpion and brown spider represent a public health problem in Asia and America, respectively. Although distinct, these organisms contain similar toxins... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
The scorpion and brown spider represent a public health problem in Asia and America, respectively. Although distinct, these organisms contain similar toxins responsible for the principal clinical signs of envenomation. To better understand the properties of these toxins, we designed a study to compare recombinant Heminecrolysin (rHNC) and rLiD1, the major phospholipase D toxins of scorpion and spider venom, respectively. Using a competitive ELISA and a hemolytic inhibition test, we come to spot a cross reaction between scorpion and spider venoms along with an epitopic similarity between rHNC and rLiD1 associated with neutralizing antibodies. Results show that the ability of the rHNC to hydrolyze lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is equivalent to that of rLiD1 to hydrolyze sphingomyelin and vice-versa. rHNC exclusively catalyze transphosphatidylation of LPC producing cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA). The in-silico analysis of hydrogen bonds between LPC and toxins provides a possible explanation for the higher transphosphatidylase activity of rHNC. Interestingly, for the first time, we reveal that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) can be a substrate for both enzymes using cellular and enzymatic assays. The finding of the usage of LPA as a substrate as well as the formation of cPA as an end product could shed more light on the molecular basis of envenomation as well as on loxoscelism.
Topics: Animals; Antivenins; Brown Recluse Spider; Cross Reactions; Epitopes; Hemolysis; Insect Bites and Stings; Lysophosphatidylcholines; Necrosis; Phospholipase D; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; Scorpion Venoms; Scorpions; Skin; Sphingomyelins; Spider Venoms; Substrate Specificity
PubMed: 33019554
DOI: 10.3390/toxins12100631