Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components.
BACKGROUND: The caterpillar of the moth Premolis semirufa (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), commonly named Pararama, is endemic of the Amazon basin. Accidental contact with these caterpillar bristles causes local symptoms such as intense heat, pain, edema and itching which last for three to seven days; howe...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b3cd296b23e34a48a511cafbeee69203 2023-05-15T15:13:06+02:00 Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. Isadora Maria Villas-Boas Rute Maria Gonçalves-de-Andrade Giselle Pidde-Queiroz Suely Lucia Muro Rais Assaf Fernanda C V Portaro Osvaldo A Sant'Anna Carmen W van den Berg Denise V Tambourgi 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 https://doaj.org/article/b3cd296b23e34a48a511cafbeee69203 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3289609?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 https://doaj.org/article/b3cd296b23e34a48a511cafbeee69203 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 6, Iss 2, p e1531 (2012) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 2022-12-31T12:31:09Z BACKGROUND: The caterpillar of the moth Premolis semirufa (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), commonly named Pararama, is endemic of the Amazon basin. Accidental contact with these caterpillar bristles causes local symptoms such as intense heat, pain, edema and itching which last for three to seven days; however, after multiples contacts, it may induce joint-space narrowing and bone alteration, as well as degeneration of the articular cartilage and immobilization of the affected joints. Specific treatment for this disease does not exist, but corticosteroids are frequently administered. Despite of the public health hazard of Premolis semirufa caterpillar poisoning, little is known about the nature of the toxic components involved in the induction of the pathology. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we have investigated the biological and immunochemical characteristics of the caterpillar's bristles components. Analysis of the bristles extract in in vitro assays revealed the presence of proteolytic and hyaluronidase activities but no phospholipase A(2) activity. In vivo, it was observed that the bristles extract is not lethal but can induce an intense inflammatory process, characterized by the presence of neutrophils in the paw tissues of injected mice. Furthermore, the bristles components stimulated an intense and specific antibody response but autoantibodies such as anti-DNA or anti-collagen type II were not detected. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Premolis semirufa caterpillar bristles secretion contains a mixture of different enzymes that may act together in the generation and development of the clinical manifestations of the Pararama envenomation. Moreover, the high immunogenicity of the caterpillar bristles components, as shown by the generation of high antibody titers, may also contribute to the induction and establishment of the inflammatory disease. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 6 2 e1531 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Isadora Maria Villas-Boas Rute Maria Gonçalves-de-Andrade Giselle Pidde-Queiroz Suely Lucia Muro Rais Assaf Fernanda C V Portaro Osvaldo A Sant'Anna Carmen W van den Berg Denise V Tambourgi Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND: The caterpillar of the moth Premolis semirufa (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), commonly named Pararama, is endemic of the Amazon basin. Accidental contact with these caterpillar bristles causes local symptoms such as intense heat, pain, edema and itching which last for three to seven days; however, after multiples contacts, it may induce joint-space narrowing and bone alteration, as well as degeneration of the articular cartilage and immobilization of the affected joints. Specific treatment for this disease does not exist, but corticosteroids are frequently administered. Despite of the public health hazard of Premolis semirufa caterpillar poisoning, little is known about the nature of the toxic components involved in the induction of the pathology. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we have investigated the biological and immunochemical characteristics of the caterpillar's bristles components. Analysis of the bristles extract in in vitro assays revealed the presence of proteolytic and hyaluronidase activities but no phospholipase A(2) activity. In vivo, it was observed that the bristles extract is not lethal but can induce an intense inflammatory process, characterized by the presence of neutrophils in the paw tissues of injected mice. Furthermore, the bristles components stimulated an intense and specific antibody response but autoantibodies such as anti-DNA or anti-collagen type II were not detected. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Premolis semirufa caterpillar bristles secretion contains a mixture of different enzymes that may act together in the generation and development of the clinical manifestations of the Pararama envenomation. Moreover, the high immunogenicity of the caterpillar bristles components, as shown by the generation of high antibody titers, may also contribute to the induction and establishment of the inflammatory disease. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Isadora Maria Villas-Boas Rute Maria Gonçalves-de-Andrade Giselle Pidde-Queiroz Suely Lucia Muro Rais Assaf Fernanda C V Portaro Osvaldo A Sant'Anna Carmen W van den Berg Denise V Tambourgi |
author_facet |
Isadora Maria Villas-Boas Rute Maria Gonçalves-de-Andrade Giselle Pidde-Queiroz Suely Lucia Muro Rais Assaf Fernanda C V Portaro Osvaldo A Sant'Anna Carmen W van den Berg Denise V Tambourgi |
author_sort |
Isadora Maria Villas-Boas |
title |
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
title_short |
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
title_full |
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
title_fullStr |
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the Amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
title_sort |
premolis semirufa (walker, 1856) envenomation, disease affecting rubber tappers of the amazon: searching for caterpillar-bristles toxic components. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 https://doaj.org/article/b3cd296b23e34a48a511cafbeee69203 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 6, Iss 2, p e1531 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3289609?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 https://doaj.org/article/b3cd296b23e34a48a511cafbeee69203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001531 |
container_title |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e1531 |
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1766343693086752768 |