Toxicological study of bee venom (Apis mellifera) from the Buenos Aires province, Argentina.

NÉSTOR RUBÉN LAGO; JANTINE HENRIETTE VAN GROOTHEEST; EDUARDO GUILLERMO GOULD; CARLOS FABIÁN DAMIN; SILVANA LITWIN; FERNANDO MORÓN GOÑI; JORGE ADRIÁN DOLAB; LUCIA IRAZU; ADOLFO DE ROODT ; LAURA CECILIA LANARI; JOSÉ CHRISTIAN DOKMETJIAN; SOLEDAD BUSTILLO

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 20th World Congress of the International Society on Toxinology; 2019

International Society on Toxinology

Samples of Apis mellifera mellifera venom from different hives in two regions of the Buenos Aires province were analysed for their lethal potency, myotoxic, hemolytic and inflammatory-edematizing activity and the histological alterations they produce in the heart, lungs, kidneys, skeletal muscle and liver of mice. In vitro studies focused on the venom´s hemolytic activity in different systems and species (horse, man, sheep and rabbit), and on the proteolytic and coagulant activity in plasma and fibrinogen. In all samples protein content, SDS-PAGE electrophoretic profile and phospholipase activity were determined. The chromatographic profile of the pooled venoms and the hemolytic and phospholipase activity of its fractions were studied as well. Lethal potency in mice ranged from approximately 3.5 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg. Hemolytic activity showed similar toxicity levels when observing hemolysis in vitro and in vivo. Statistical analysis did not show differences in toxicity between regions. Erythrocytes of different species varied in their sensitivity to the venom pool, equines being the most sensitive and sheep the most resistant to direct hemolytic action. Local and systemic myotoxicity was evidenced by either the elevation of serum creatin kinase and/or histopathology. All samples caused significant pathological alterations; pulmonary, cardiac, renal and skeletal muscle lesions were substantive and can be related to the physiopathological mechanisms of envenomation. The venoms from different apiaries and regions of the Buenos Aires province showed very similar toxicological and biochemical characteristics. The severity of envenomation in case of a swarming is therefore more related to the number of bees than to the differential toxicity of the venom. The knowledge of antivenom production and its neutralizing capacity needs to be expanded urgently, as there is a worldwide lack of anti-bee antivenoms for the treatment of envenomation due to swarmings.