Soroterapia escorpiônica na gestação e seus efeitos na prole de ratos

Abstract

Tityus serrulatus is the most venomous scorpion in Brazil. Little is known about the effects of maternal exposure to venom and serum therapy on fetal development. The effect of moderate doses of venom (4mg/kg s.c.) on the second (GD2) or tenth (GD10) day of pregnancy in pregnant rats and their offspring was investigated, as well as the effect of serum therapy (2 doses of 0.2ml i.p.). The females were evaluated for their weight gain, reproductive and dietary parameters. GD2 and GD10 females exposed to the venom showed an increase in water intake, indicating physiological changes in these females, due to the direct or indirect action of the venom on their bodies. In the pups, their weights and respective organs (placenta, kidneys, liver, heart and lungs), number of live or dead pups and visceral and skeletal abnormalities on the 21st gestational day were observed. Pups of females exposed to the venom in GD2 showed a decrease in the weight of the placentas in relation to the groups that were not exposed, while in GD10 there was a decrease in the weight of the pups and their organs in relation to the groups that were not exposed, indicating that the exposure to T. serrulatus venom results in alterations in the development of rat pups during the gestational period. The group poisoned and treated with serum showed no changes, indicating that the serum was somehow able to neutralize the effects caused by the venom. In addition, the group treated both in GD2 and in GD10 with serum alone showed almost no change, except for an increase in the heart weight of pups in GD2. All these data show advantages of serum therapy during pregnancy, nullifying the deleterious effects of exposure to venom during the prenatal period.