keyword
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35977137/arthropod-bites-and-stings
#21
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Joel Herness, Matthew J Snyder, Raquelle Suzanne Newman
Arthropods, including insects and arachnids, significantly affect humans as vectors for infectious diseases. Arthropod bites and stings commonly cause minor, usually self-limited reactions; however, some species are associated with more severe complications. Spider bites are rarely life-threatening. There are two medically relevant spiders in the United States. Widow spider (Latrodectus) envenomation can cause muscle spasm and severe pain that should be treated with analgesics and benzodiazepines. Antivenom is not widely available in the United States but may be considered for severe, refractory cases...
August 2022: American Family Physician
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35935107/venomous-spiders-of-albania-does-an-increase-of-temperature-influence-the-toxicity-of-spider-venom
#22
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Vrenozi, Blerina
Black widow spiders ( Latrodectus sp.) are distributed worldwide, and in Albania the L. tredecimguttatus Rossi, 1790 has been the dominant spider. Other medically important spiders in Albania include the brown recluse with symptoms known as loxoscelism, the false black widow and the egg sac spiders; the last two inducing similar symptoms to a wasp sting. METHODS: The data analyzed is from a decade-long study of 125 patients hospitalized in the regional hospital of Fier County, in the Western Lowland of Albania from May 2009 and to October 2018...
September 2022: Toxicon: X
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35812367/risky-business-males-choose-more-receptive-adults-over-safer-subadults-in-a-cannibalistic-spider
#23
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Lenka Sentenská, Catherine Scott, Pierick Mouginot, Maydianne C B Andrade
Understanding factors affecting male mate choice can be important for tracking the dynamics of sexual selection in nature. Male brown widow spiders ( Latrodectus geometricus ) mate with adult as well as immature (subadult) females. Mating with adults involves costly courtship with a repertoire of signaling behaviors, and typically ends with cannibalism ("self-sacrifice" initiated by male somersault). Mating with subadults involves brief courtship with behavioral repertoire reduced to one component (vibration) and no cannibalism...
July 2022: Behavioral Ecology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35781049/neutralization-of-black-widow-spider-latrodectus-mactans-venom-with-rabbit-polyclonal-serum-hyperimmunized-with-recombinant-alpha-latrotoxin-fragments
#24
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Alejandro Olvera Rodríguez, Mitzi G Amaro Ruiz, Melisa Bénard-Valle, Edgar Neri-Castro, Felipe Olvera Rodríguez, Alejandro Alagón
Alpha-latrotoxin (ɑLTx) is the component responsible for causing the pathophysiology in patients bitten by spiders from the genus Latrodectus, commonly known as black widow spiders. The current antivenom used to treat these envenomations in Mexico is produced using the venom of thousands of spiders, obtained through electrical stimulation. This work aimed to produce this protein as well as two of its fragments in a bacterial model, to evaluate their use as immunogens to produce neutralizing hyperimmune sera, in rabbits...
October 2022: Biochimie
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35648461/invasive-widow-spiders-perform-differently-at-low-temperatures-from-conspecifics-from-the-native-range
#25
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Monica A Mowery, Susan E Anthony, Alexandra N Dorison, Andrew C Mason, Maydianne C B Andrade
Temperature challenges are one of the leading abiotic causes of success or failure of non-native species in a novel environment, and this is particularly true for low temperatures. Establishing and reproducing in a novel thermal environment can alter survival, behavior, and traits related to fitness. It has been proposed that plasticity or adaptation of thermal tolerance may allow an introduced species to thrive, or that successful invaders may be those with a thermal breadth in their native habitat that encompasses their new environment...
August 25, 2022: Integrative and Comparative Biology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35639632/chromosome-level-genome-assembly-of-the-black-widow-spider-latrodectus-elegans-illuminates-composition-and-evolution-of-venom-and-silk-proteins
#26
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Zhongkai Wang, Kesen Zhu, Haorong Li, Lei Gao, Huanying Huang, Yandong Ren, Hui Xiang
BACKGROUND: The black widow spider has both extraordinarily neurotoxic venom and three-dimensional cobwebs composed of diverse types of silk. However, a high-quality reference genome for the black widow spider was still unavailable, which hindered deep understanding and application of the valuable biomass. FINDINGS: We assembled the Latrodectus elegans genome, including a genome size of 1.57 Gb with contig N50 of 4.34 Mb and scaffold N50 of 114.31 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding assigned 98...
May 25, 2022: GigaScience
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35482802/ecdysteroid-responses-to-urban-heat-island-conditions-during-development-of-the-western-black-widow-spider-latrodectus-hesperus
#27
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Claire Moen, J Chadwick Johnson, Jennifer Hackney Price
The steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) controls molting in arthropods. The timing of 20E production, and subsequent developmental transitions, is influenced by a variety of environmental factors including nutrition, photoperiod, and temperature, which is particularly relevant in the face of climate change. Environmental changes, combined with rapid urbanization, and the increasing prevalence of urban heat islands (UHI) have contributed to an overall decrease in biodiversity making it critical to understand how organisms respond to elevating global temperatures...
2022: PloS One
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35447752/validation-of-a-novel-stereo-vibrometry-technique-for-spiderweb-signal-analysis
#28
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Nathan Justus, Rodrigo Krugner, Ross L Hatton
From courtship rituals, to prey identification, to displays of rivalry, a spider's web vibrates with a symphony of information. Examining the modality of information being transmitted and how spiders interact with this information could lead to new understanding how spiders perceive the world around them through their webs, and new biological and engineering techniques that leverage this understanding. Spiders interact with their webs through a variety of body motions, including abdominal tremors, bounces, and limb jerks along threads of the web...
March 22, 2022: Insects
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35435990/coexistence-of-rhabdomyolysis-myocarditis-and-arrhythmia-after-spider-bite-a-case-report
#29
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Münevver Yılmaz, Gürbüz Akçay, Dolunay Gürses
BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyolysis after spider bite has been reported in a small number of patients, and myocarditis in even fewer. However, arrhythmia associated with latrodectism in children has not been described in the literature to date. CASE SUMMARY: A girl presented approximately 4.5 h after being bitten on the left ankle by a black spider. Two unifocal premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) were observed on the electrocardiogram. In laboratory tests, creatine kinase was elevated...
April 5, 2022: Journal of Tropical Pediatrics
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35011282/de-novo-transcriptome-analysis-of-the-venom-of-latrodectus-geometricus-with-the-discovery-of-an-insect-selective-na-channel-modulator
#30
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Pornsawan Khamtorn, Steve Peigneur, Fernanda Gobbi Amorim, Loïc Quinton, Jan Tytgat, Sakda Daduang
The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus , is a predator of a variety of agricultural insects and is also hazardous for humans. Its venom is a true pharmacopeia representing neurotoxic peptides targeting the ion channels and/or receptors of both vertebrates and invertebrates. The lack of transcriptomic information, however, limits our knowledge of the diversity of components present in its venom. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) carry out a transcriptomic analysis of the venom, and (2) investigate the bioactivity of the venom using an electrophysiological bioassay...
December 22, 2021: Molecules: a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry
https://read.qxmd.com/read/35001923/bite-envenomation-by-latrodectus-geometricus-araneae-theridiidae-spiders-in-malaysia
#31
JOURNAL ARTICLE
A S Mokhtar, M Muslimin, A Y Mat-Saat, A-R M Ghazali, A K Ismail, N M Abdul-Aziz
We report two confirmed human bite cases by Lactrodectus geometricus , also known as the brown widow spider. These are the first reported bite envenomation incidents by L. geometricus in Malaysia. The incidents occurred in Tawau, Sabah and Paka, Terengganu. Both men were bitten on their ear while putting on motorcycle helmets. The spiders appeared to have nested in the helmets. The dead specimens were collected and sent to the Invertebrate and Vertebrate Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Universiti Malaya for identification...
December 1, 2021: Tropical Biomedicine
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34845192/molecular-architecture-of-black-widow-spider-neurotoxins
#32
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Minghao Chen, Daniel Blum, Lena Engelhard, Stefan Raunser, Richard Wagner, Christos Gatsogiannis
Latrotoxins (LaTXs) are presynaptic pore-forming neurotoxins found in the venom of Latrodectus spiders. The venom contains a toxic cocktail of seven LaTXs, with one of them targeting vertebrates (α-latrotoxin (α-LTX)), five specialized on insects (α, β, γ, δ, ε- latroinsectotoxins (LITs), and one on crustaceans (α-latrocrustatoxin (α-LCT)). LaTXs bind to specific receptors on the surface of neuronal cells, inducing the release of neurotransmitters either by directly stimulating exocytosis or by forming Ca2+ -conductive tetrameric pores in the membrane...
November 29, 2021: Nature Communications
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34745240/widow-spiders-in-the-new-world-a-review-on-latrodectus-walckenaer-1805-theridiidae-and-latrodectism-in-the-americas
#33
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Marjolly Brigido Caruso, Pedro Santana Sales Lauria, Claudio Maurício Vieira de Souza, Luciana Lyra Casais-E-Silva, Russolina Benedeta Zingali
Humankind has always been fascinated by venomous animals, as their toxic substances have transformed them into symbols of power and mystery. Over the centuries, researchers have been trying to understand animal venoms, unveiling intricate mixtures of molecules and their biological effects. Among venomous animals, Latrodectus Walckenaer, 1805 (widow spiders) have become feared in many cultures worldwide due to their extremely neurotoxic venom. The Latrodectus genus encompasses 32 species broadly spread around the globe, 14 of which occur in the Americas...
2021: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34718188/the-effect-of-selected-immunostimulants-on-hemocytes-of-the-false-black-widow-steatoda-grossa-theridiidae-spiders-under-chronic-exposition-to-cadmium
#34
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Kamila Wiśniewska, Magdalena Rost-Roszkowska, Joanna Homa, Katarzyna Kasperkiewicz, Kinga Surmiak-Stalmach, Elżbieta Szulińska, Grażyna Wilczek
The aim of this study was to analyze whether, and to what extent, long-term exposure to cadmium, administered in sublethal concentrations by the oral route, caused changes in the immune potential of hemocytes in adult female Steatoda grossa spiders. We used artificial and natural immunostimulants, namely phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and bacterial cell suspension based on Gram-positive (G+, Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (G-, Pseudomonas fluorescens) bacteria, to compare the status of hemocytes in nonstimulated individuals and those subjected to immunostimulation...
February 2022: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Toxicology & Pharmacology: CBP
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34632517/expression-of-brown-and-southern-black-widow-spider-araneae-theridiidae-latrotoxins-is-tissue-and-life-stage-specific-for-%C3%AE-latroinsectotoxins-and-%C3%AE-latroinsectotoxins-and-is-ubiquitous-for-%C3%AE-latrotoxins
#35
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Sebastian L Torres, Abraham Landeros, Eleanor J Penhallegon, Kaleth Salazar, Lindsay M Porter
Widow spiders are widely known for their potent venom toxins that make them among the few spiders of medical concern. The latrotoxins are the most well-studied widow toxins and include both the vertebrate-specific latrotoxins and the insect-specific latroinsectotoxins (LITs). Previous studies have shown that toxins are not limited to expression in the venom glands of adult spiders; however, gaps exist in latrotoxin screening across all life stages for brown widows, Latrodectus geometricus and southern black widows, Latrodectus mactans...
January 12, 2022: Journal of Medical Entomology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34622929/dry-heat-tolerance-of-egg-sacs-of-invasive-latrodectus-spiders-araneae-theridiidae-in-japan-implications-for-efficient-control-extermination
#36
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Daisuke Hayasaka, Takuya Nakamori, Kazunori Tamaue, Yugo Seko, Koya Hashimoto, Takuo Sawahata
Strategic responses to invasive Latrodectus widow spiders are a global challenge due to the risks they pose to health and ecosystems. Chemical strategies involving the use of pyrethroids are effective against adult spiders, but as their populations rebound, chemical control becomes costly and unsustainable for eradication. A major obstacle is the inefficacy of insecticides against eggs, which are covered by a protective silk egg sac. Eradication of invasive spiders must focus on destroying progeny. Here, the responses of eggs in egg sacs of two invasive Latrodectus spiders in Japan (Latrodectus hasseltii (Thorell) and Latrodectus geometricus (C...
December 6, 2021: Journal of Economic Entomology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34512830/clinical-characteristics-of-patients-with-black-widow-spider-bites-a-report-of-59-patients-and-single-center-experience
#37
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Hai-Jiang Zhou, Ke Xu, Ping-Yuan Zheng, Wei Gu
No abstract text is available yet for this article.
2021: World Journal of Emergency Medicine
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34443676/egg-case-protein-3-a-constituent-of-black-widow-spider-tubuliform-silk
#38
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Mikayla Shanafelt, Camille Larracas, Simmone Dyrness, Ryan Hekman, Coby La Mattina-Hawkins, Taylor Rabara, Wilson Wu, Craig A Vierra
Spider silk has outstanding mechanical properties, rivaling some of the best materials on the planet. Biochemical analyses of tubuliform silk have led to the identification of TuSp1, egg case protein 1, and egg case protein 2. TuSp1 belongs to the spidroin superfamily, containing a non-repetitive N - and C -terminal domain and internal block repeats. ECP1 and ECP2, which lack internal block repeats and sequence similarities to the highly conserved N - and C -terminal domains of spidroins, have cysteine-rich N -terminal domains...
August 22, 2021: Molecules: a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34430975/envenomation-by-steatoda-borealis-araneae-theridiidae-in-connecticut-usa
#39
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Charles R Vossbrinck, William L Krinsky
We report a case of envenomation by Steatoda borealis (Hentz, 1850) in Connecticut in late spring 2021. The bitten subject was a 60-yr-old female Caucasian. The bite occurred upon disturbing some books in her basement. She reported a painful stinging bite on her finger followed by the formation of an erythematous macule at the site of the bite which was gone the next day. There was no sign of necrosis. The spider was recovered directly at that time. The victim reported that later that night she experienced heart palpitations...
November 9, 2021: Journal of Medical Entomology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/34251190/investigating-the-atomic-and-mesoscale-interactions-that-facilitate-spider-silk-protein-pre-assembly
#40
JOURNAL ARTICLE
David Onofrei, Dillan Stengel, Di Jia, Hannah R Johnson, Samantha Trescott, Ashana Soni, Bennett Addison, Murugappan Muthukumar, Gregory P Holland
Black widow spider dragline silk is one of nature's high-performance biological polymers, exceeding the strength and toughness of most man-made materials including high tensile steel and Kevlar. Major ampullate (Ma), or dragline silk, is primarily comprised of two spidroin proteins (Sp) stored within the Ma gland. In the native gland environment, the MaSp1 and MaSp2 proteins self-associate to form hierarchical 200-300 nm superstructures despite being intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Here, dynamic light scattering (DLS), three-dimensional (3D) triple resonance solution NMR, and diffusion NMR is utilized to probe the MaSp size, molecular structure, and dynamics of these protein pre-assemblies diluted in 4 M urea and identify specific regions of the proteins important for silk protein pre-assembly...
August 9, 2021: Biomacromolecules
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