Bothrops atrox from Ecuadorian Amazon: Initial analyses of venoms from individuals

Toxicon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Ricardo S.P. Patiño ◽  
David Salazar-Valenzuela ◽  
Evencio Medina-Villamizar ◽  
Bruno Mendes ◽  
Carolina Proaño-Bolaños ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Bothrops Atrox

MODEC2017, International Workshop on the Natural Products and Agro-Industrial Processes in Ecuadorian Amazon region

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaury Pérez Martínez ◽  
Oscar Miguel Rivera-Borroto ◽  
Gerardo M. Casañola-Martín ◽  
Karel Dieguez Santana
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
International Workshop ◽  
Amazon Region ◽  
Industrial Processes ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon

Antimyotoxic Activity of Synthetic Peptides Derived from Bothrops atrox Snake Gamma Phospholipase A2 Inhibitor Selected by Virtual Screening

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (22) ◽  
pp. 1952-1961 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Sobrinho ◽  
A.F. Francisco ◽  
R. Simões-Silva ◽  
A.M. Kayano ◽  
J.J. Alfonso Ruiz Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Molecular Docking ◽  
Synthetic Peptides ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Neutralization Assay ◽  
Phospholipase Activity ◽  
Phospholipases A2 ◽  
Catalytically Active ◽  
Bothrops Atrox

Background: Several studies have aimed to identify molecules that inhibit the toxic actions of snake venom phospholipases A2 (PLA2s). Studies carried out with PLA2 inhibitors (PLIs) have been shown to be efficient in this assignment. Objective: This work aimed to analyze the interaction of peptides derived from Bothrops atrox PLIγ (atPLIγ) with a PLA2 and to evaluate the ability of these peptides to reduce phospholipase and myotoxic activities. Methods: Peptides were subjected to molecular docking with a homologous Lys49 PLA2 from B. atrox venom modeled by homology. Phospholipase activity neutralization assay was performed with BthTX-II and different ratios of the peptides. A catalytically active and an inactive PLA2 were purified from the B. atrox venom and used together in the in vitro myotoxic activity neutralization experiments with the peptides. Results: The peptides interacted with amino acids near the PLA2 hydrophobic channel and the loop that would be bound to calcium in Asp49 PLA2. They were able to reduce phospholipase activity and peptides DFCHNV and ATHEE reached the highest reduction levels, being these two peptides the best that also interacted in the in silico experiments. The peptides reduced the myotubes cell damage with a highlight for the DFCHNV peptide, which reduced by about 65%. It has been suggested that myotoxic activity reduction is related to the sites occupied in the PLA2 structure, which could corroborate the results observed in molecular docking. Conclusion: This study should contribute to the investigation of the potential of PLIs to inhibit the toxic effects of PLA2s.

scholarly journals Human Health Risk Assessment for Exposure to Potentially Toxic Elements in Polluted Rivers in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 613
Author(s):  
Samantha Jiménez-Oyola ◽  
Kenny Escobar Segovia ◽  
María-Jesús García-Martínez ◽  
Marcelo Ortega ◽  
David Bolonio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Cancer Risk ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risk Assessment ◽  
Toxic Elements ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Potentially Toxic Elements ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Polluted Rivers

Anthropogenic activities performed in the Ecuadorian Amazon have released potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the rivers, causing severe environmental pollution and increasing the risk of exposure to the residents of the surrounding areas. This study aims to carry out a human health risk assessment using deterministic and probabilistic methods to estimate the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR) related to multi-pathway human exposure to PTEs in polluted rivers. Concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface water and sediment samples from rivers on the Ecuadorian Amazon were considered to assess the potential adverse human health effects. As a result, deterministic and probabilistic estimations of cancer and non-cancer risk through exposure to surface waters and sediments were above the safety limit. A sensitivity analysis identified the concentration of PTEs and the exposure duration (ED) as the two most important variables for probabilistic health risk assessment. The highest risk for receptors was related to exposure to polluted sediments through incidental ingestion and dermal contact routes. According to the deterministic estimation, the human health risk through ingestion of water was above the threshold in specific locations. This study reveals the potential health risk to which the population is exposed. This information can be used as a baseline to develop public strategies to reduce anthropogenic pollution and exposure to PTEs in Ecuadorian Amazon rivers.

scholarly journals Variations in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities and Biological Quality in the Aguarico and Coca River Basins in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1692
Author(s):  
Santiago Cabrera ◽  
Marie Anne Eurie Forio ◽  
Koen Lock ◽  
Marte Vandenbroucke ◽  
Tania Oña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Sampling Campaign ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems

Adequate environmental management in tropical aquatic ecosystems is imperative. Given the lack of knowledge about functional diversity and bioassessment programs, management is missing the needed evidence on pollution and its effect on biodiversity and functional ecology. Therefore, we investigated the composition and distribution of the macroinvertebrate community along two rivers. Specifically, 15 locations were sampled in the Coca and Aguarico Rivers (Ecuadorian Amazon) and the macroinvertebrates were used to indicate water quality (WQ), expressed as the Biological Monitoring Working Party Colombia (BMWP-Col) classes. Results indicate that elevation, pH, temperature, width, and water depth played an important role in the taxa and functional feeding groups (FFG) composition. The results show that diversity of taxa and FFG were generally scarce but were more abundant in good quality sites. Collector-gathers (CG) were, in general, dominant and were particularly abundant at low WQ and downstream sites. Scrapers (SC) were the second most abundant group, dominating mostly at good WQ and upstream sites. Predators (PR) were homogeneously distributed among the sites, without clear dominance, and their abundance was slightly higher in sites with medium-low WQ and downstream sites. Lastly, both shredders (SH) and collector-filterers (CF) were almost absent and were more abundant in good quality sites. The findings of this research can be used as baseline information in the studied region since a dam was constructed two years after the sampling campaign, which has been operating since. Furthermore, the results can be used to fill the knowledge gaps related to the bioassessments of other similar systems, particularly for a tropical rainforest.

scholarly journals Potential for Farmers’ Cooperatives to Convert Coffee Husks into Biochar and Promote the Bioeconomy in the North Ecuadorian Amazon

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4747
Author(s):  
Mario A. Heredia Salgado ◽  
Ina Säumel ◽  
Andrea Cianferoni ◽  
Luís A. C. Tarelho
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
The North ◽  
Income Sources ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Specific Standard ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post Harvesting ◽  
Term Maintenance

Improving the livelihoods of communities living in fragile ecosystems, such as tropical forests, is among the main strategies to promote their conservation and preserve wildlife. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, farmers’ cooperatives are recognized as an important mechanism to improve the socioeconomic conditions of local communities. This study analyzes the integration of pyrolysis processes to convert agricultural waste into biochar as a way to implement the bioeconomy in these organizations. We found that post-harvesting processes in the studied farmers’ cooperatives are similar, and coffee husks are a potential feedstock to produce biochar. Although the environmental policies in Ecuador consider the valorization of agricultural waste, we did not find any specific standard to regulate the operation of pyrolysis facilities. Nonetheless, conversion of agricultural waste into biochar can contribute to (i) replacement of subsidized fossil fuels used in drying processes, (ii) prevention of environmental pollution caused by accumulation of waste, (iii) emergence of new income sources linked with the provision of carbon sequestration services, and (iv) the long-term maintenance of soil fertility. Currently, demonstration projects are needed to stimulate collaboration among farmers’ cooperatives, academia, the government, international cooperation agencies, and existing forest conservation initiatives.

Pressure on the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve: Development and Land Use/Cover Change in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1831-1849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos F. Mena ◽  
Alisson F. Barbieri ◽  
Stephen J. Walsh ◽  
Christine M. Erlien ◽  
Flora L. Holt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Wildlife Reserve

Colonialism, the Shuar Federation, and the Ecuadorian State

10.1068/d236t ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
State Building ◽  
The State ◽  
Indigenous Movements ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Extension Of State ◽  
The Relationship

This author suggests new avenues for thinking about the relationship between formerly stateless societies and the state. It does so through a detailed study of one particular group, the Shuar, indigenous to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Formerly an acephalous society of hunter-gardeners, the Shuar now constitute a federation with a democratically elected, hierarchical leadership and are at the forefront of indigenous movements in Latin America. The author analyzes this transformation in the context of colonialism but argues that colonialism involves far more than the movement of people from one place to another or the extension of state authority over new territory. Rather, he reveals colonialism to hinge on the transformation of sociospatial boundaries. Such transformations were critical not only to Shuar ethnogenesis but also to Ecuadorian state-building. That is, colonialism involves a dialectical reorganization both of the state and of its new subjects.

An undescribed and overlooked species of Sloanea (Elaeocarpaceae) from the Ecuadorian Amazon

Brittonia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino ◽  
Diana Fernández-Fernández ◽  
Nigel C. A. Pitman
Keyword(s):  
Ecuadorian Amazon
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