Figure 8: Treatment with an inhibitor of COX1/2 protects mice from scorpion envenomation.
(a) C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with a lethal (180 μg kg−1) or excessive (superdose; 360 μg kg−1) dose of TsV and were treated with vehicle or indomethacin (Indo, 2 mg kg−1) 15 or 30 min after the venom injection, followed by an additional dose of the treatment 4 and 8 h later. Survival was monitored for 12 h. Significant differences (P<0.05) are marked with an asterisk. The experiment was performed once on six mice and the log-rank test was used to compare TsV+vehicle versus TsV+Indo. (b) Using the eicosanoid data obtained from the animals (129sv WT and Alox5−/−) inoculated with TsV at 180 μg kg−1 for 24 h, we demonstrated the correlation between the PGE2/LTB4 balance and the IL-1β production level, in each mouse. Data are representative of one experiment on six mice. (c) Mechanism scheme showing the production of eicosanoids after scorpion envenomation, inflammasome activation and IL-1β release, and indicating that the balance between metabolites of PGE2 and LTB4 determines the outcome of inflammasome-mediated envenomation, the severity of lung inflammation and the outcome of envenomation mortality.
