Morphology of the skeletal muscle injury, and regeneration after envenomation by <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i>.

<p>Groups were envenomated by an i.m. injection of 40 μg (40 μL) of <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom and treated 45 minutes later with AV (0.2 mL, i.v.), Dexa (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.), or AV + Dexa by the same route and doses. The morphology of the treated groups was compared to that of the untreated control group. The calf muscles of the animals were collected 1, 7 or 21 days after the envenomation and processed as described in Materials and Methods. At 1 day, necrotic areas were observed in all groups (arrows). Seven days after envenomation, some areas of regenerated skeletal muscle cells with central nuclei were observed in all groups (*). At 21 days post-envenomation, regenerated muscle fibers with centrally located nuclei were observed in all groups (*). In all cases, paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin.</p

Kinetics of muscle injury and regeneration after envenomation by <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i>.

<p>At 1 (A), 4 (B), 7 (C), 14 (D), 21 (E), or 28 (F) days after the i.m. injection of <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom (40 μg), the CK contents were evaluated in the envenomated and the contralateral saline-injected calf muscles. Groups (n = 5/group) were treated with AV (0.2 mL, i. v.), Dexa (1 mg/kg, i. p.) or AV + Dexa by the same routes and doses 45 minutes after the envenomation. The results are expressed as the means ± S.E. and presented as the percentage of the CK content compared to the saline-injected muscle. The statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences from the untreated control group are indicated (*).</p

Myonecrosis induced by <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom.

<p>The muscle damage was evaluated by measuring the levels of CK in serum, 3 h after the i.m. injection of <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom (40 μg) into the right calf muscles of the mice. Groups (n = 5/group) were treated with AV (0.2 mL, i. v.), Dexa (1 mg/kg, i. p.) or AV + Dexa by the same routes and doses 10 (A), or 45 minutes (B) after the envenomation. The results are expressed as the means ± S.E., and the statistically significant (p<0.05) differences from the untreated control group are indicated (*).</p

Fibrinogen levels (A) and platelet counts (B) in mice envenomated with <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom.

<p>Animals (n = 4/group) were injected (i.m.) with <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom (40 μg/40 μL). Forty-five minutes later, groups were treated with AV (0.2 mL, i.v.), Dexa (1.0 mg/kg), AV + Dexa, or remained untreated, and blood was collected 6 h after the envenomation. The platelets were counted in the whole blood, and fibrinogen was evaluated in citrated plasma as described in Materials and Methods. The results are expressed as the means ± S.E. and the statistically significant (p<0.05) differences from the non-envenomated animals (*) and the untreated group (#) are indicated</p

Dermonecrosis induced by <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom.

<p>Groups of mice (n = 5/group) were treated with AV (0.2 mL, i. v.), Dexa (1 mg/kg, i. p.) or AV + Dexa by the same routes and doses 10 (A), or 45 minutes (B) after i.d. injection of 30 μg of <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom, and the results were compared to the untreated control group. The dermonecrosis was expressed as the means ± S.E. of the diameters of the spots on the inner surface of the injected skin 48 h after the venom injection. The statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences from the untreated control group (#) or from all other groups (*) are indicated.</p

Local hemorrhage induced by <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom.

<p>Groups of mice (n = 5/group) were treated with AV (0.2 mL, i. v.), Dexa (1 mg/kg, i. p.) or AV + Dexa by the same routes and doses 10 (A), or 45 minutes (B) after i.d. injection of 3.3 μg of <i>B</i>. <i>atrox</i> venom, and the results were compared to the untreated control group. The degree of hemorrhage is expressed as the means ± S.E of the diameters of the spots on the inner surface of the injected skin 2 h after the venom injection.</p