scorpion venom and the inflammatory response蝎子毒液和炎症反应.pdf

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Mediators of Inflammation Volume 2010, Article ID 903295, 16 pages doi:10.1155/2010/903295 Review Article Scorpion Venom and the Inflammatory Response Vera L. Petricevich Laboratorio de Inflamacion y Toxicologıa, Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, ´ ´ ´ Avenida Universidad 1001, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62209, Mexico Correspondence should be addressed to Vera L. Petricevich, vera.petricevich@uaem.mx Received 19 November 2009; Accepted 4 January 2010 Academic Editor: Fulvio D’Acquisto Copyright © 2010 Vera L. Petricevich. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Scorpion venoms consist of a complex of several toxins that exhibit a wide range of biological properties and actions, as well as chemical compositions, toxicity, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics. These venoms are associated with high morbility and mortality, especially among children. Victims of envenoming by a scorpion suffer a variety of pathologies, involving mainly both sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation as well as central manifestations such as irritability, hyperthermia, vomiting, profuse salivation, tremor, and convulsion. The clinical signs and symptoms observed in humans and experimental animals are related with an excessive systemic host inflammatory response to stings and stings, respectively. Although the pathophysiology of envenomation is complex and not yet fully understood, venom and immune responses are known to trigger the r