Busca de inibidores de enzima conversora da angiotensina do veneno do escorpião Tityus serrulatus

Abstract

Accidents by scorpion represent a problem for public health in Brazil, being the most recurrent among venomous animals. In the country, the main answerable species is the scorpion Tityus serrulatus, whose venom can induces serious clinical manifestation and cause death, mainly in children and elderly. Among the most serious pathological manifestations, poisoned humans can present cardiac and respiratory arrhythmias, cardiac insufficiency, shock and hypertension. In mammals, including humans, one of the major mechanisms involved in regulating blood pressure is the exacerbated activity of the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE I), and the inhibition of this enzyme has been widely explored by pharmacology related to the control of hypertension. Scorpion venom toxins with ability to promote an inhibition of this enzyme may elucidate the mechanisms involved in falling blood pressure in envenoming patients or to serve as models for the development of antihypertensive drugs. Recent works show that the venom of T. serrulatus is composed mainly of peptides and our studies identified peptide fractions capable of interacting with an ACE already described in the literature, indicating and contributing to the possible understanding of some mechanisms involving peptides and poisoning.