The Scorpaena plumieri
fish venom induces a severe
pain and
edema, observed both clinically and experimentally. In order to understand more about the envenomation syndrome, the present study characterized experimentally the local acute inflammatory response induced by S. plumieri
venom (SpV) in a mouse model of tissue injury. Our results demonstrated that the local inflammatory response provoked after 2 h of SpV injection in footpad of mice is characterized by release of pivotal pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF, IL-6 and MCP-1). These mediators could be associated with histopathological changes observed into paw tissue, characterized by cellular infiltration, mainly neutrophils. Additionally, an investigation of
edema formation pathways involved in inflammatory response was performed. SpV-induced
edema was reduced significantly by previous administration of
aprotinin or
icatibant (HOE-140). However, the pre-treatment with
diclofenac sodium and
promethazine had less effect on this response. These results demonstrate that the kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) plays a major role in the
edema formation. Despite the whole
venom hydrolyzed the
kallikrein synthetic substrate
S-2302 (Pro-
Phe-Arg-pNA), its main pro-inflammatory fraction was devoid of
kininogenase activity. Our results demonstrate that SpV evokes a complex inflammatory reaction stimulating a secretion of TNF,
IL-6, MCP-1 and leukocytes recruitment at the site of
venom injection. In addition provide clear evidence of the involvement of the KKS in inflammatory response induced by S. plumieri
venom.