Investigation of the Behavioral and Clinical Effects of Black Scorpion Venom in Albino Rats

Background: Aggressive behaviors in human and experimental animals have previously been described following induced pain. Aggression in rodents has been attributed to genetic and environmental factors, such as pain. A major complication of scorpion envenomation is severe pain in animals and humans. Considering that envenomation by black scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda) induces severe pain, the present study was conducted to investigate the effects of the venom on inducing aggressive behaviors in rats due to the pain from stinging. Methods: Rats in the control (n=20) and experimental groups (n=20) were injected with 0.5ml physiological serum or 1µg/ml of black scorpion venom dissolved in 0.5ml physiological serum, respectively, in the dorsal vein near the tail. Changes in behaviors were monitored photographically among the rats in both groups. Results: Following the injection of the scorpion venom, considerable agitation and fights occurred among the experimental rats, presumably due to the severe pain induced by the venom. However, there was no such abnormal behavior observed in the control rats and in the experimental rats before the venom injection. Conclusion: The induced pain post envenomation in rats caused violent changes in their behaviors, which were highly likely associated with the venom injection.

Feeding ecology of black scorpion fish (Scorpaena porcus Linnaeus, 1758) in SE Black Sea region, (Ordu) Turkey

Black scorpion fish (Scorpaena porcus) is an important species for both artisanal and industrial fisheries in the Turkish Black Sea, with 306 tonnes landed in 2017. The diet composition of this species was investigated through the examination of their stomach contents. A total of 621 S. porcus (ranging from 12.79–765.5 g) were caught by trammel net in the south-eastern Black Sea (Turkish waters) from December 2015 to November 2016. The importance of prey items in the diet of S. porcus was assessed using the Index of Relative Importance (%IRI). Overall, the dominant species was the isopod Idotea balthica (52.8%IRI) followed by decapods (38.5%IRI) and teleosts (8.7%IRI). Seasonal variations in the diets were observed, with isopods predominant in autumn (>85%IRI), teleosts in winter (>77%IRI) and decapod crustaceans (>78%IRI) in spring and summer. The modified Costello's graphical analysis evinced a specialist feeding strategy for S. porcus during winter, spring and autumn while a shift to generalistic feeding strategy was exhibited in summer by a limited number of S. porcus individuals.

Getting stung by black scorpion Androctonus crassicauda

Importance of the correct diagnosis in the correct early management of a scorpion stung patient by using antivenom is not emphasized, particularly when there are little evidences. A 65-year-old female was brought to our emergency department with the chief compliant of being stung by an unknown object 3 h earlier while traveling in an intercity bus. She became agitated and simultaneously experienced tachycardia, very severe generalized sweating, cold and wet extremities, bilateral diffuse crackle in the base of lungs, tachypnea, and lethargy. With the primitive diagnosis of myocardial infarction, scorpion sting was documented as the cause of this combined cholinergic and adrenergic syndrome after the scorpion was found in the patient’s bed clothes. She dramatically responded to the administration of low dose of scorpion antivenom. This case dramatically responded to the antivenom administration, especially the cholinergic and sympathetic signs, pulmonary edema, and electrocardiographic changes were fully and almost immediately recovered. Scorpion antivenom may reverse life-threatening manifestations of scorpion envenomation if used early and in appropriate patients.