Myotoxic and hemorrhagic effects of fractions obtained from the venom of lionfish (pterois volitans) in mice and identification of potentially toxic components

Abstract

Lionfish is a non-native fish that inhabits the Caribbean coast of Central America, which is considered an ecological danger to the coral reefs because of its invasive behavior. Toxicity in humans is associated with strong pain and local symptomatology. In this study, we evaluated the 24 h-in vivo effects of its venom and fractions on the skin and gastrocnemius muscle of mice. Intraperitoneal injection of lionfish dorsal spines venom (which in this study was not separated from epidermal mucus), is not able to induce lethality up to 250 μg/mouse, but histological analysis shows that 50 μg of venom per mouse, induces myonecrosis and hemorrhage in the gastrocnemius and damage on the skin, by intradermal injection. Venom was separated by size exclusion-HPLC and five main fractions were obtained, which were injected in mice, and tissue samples were processed for histological analysis.