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Background: Scorpion venom contains various biomolecules with potential therapeutic values against different diseases, including cancer. The present study was carried out to assess the antitumor efficacy of Androctonus australis crude venom using both in vitro and in vivo approaches. Methodology: For in vitro assay, the cytotoxic effect of different venom concentrations was determined against HCT116, HepG2, MCF-7, and PC-3 as cancer cell lines and normal WISH cell line. The in vivo assay was carried out by the I.P. transplantation of EAC into Swiss albino female mice, followed by the I.P. injection of the venom at the sublethal dose 1/10 LD 50 (0.025 mg/kg BW) compared to cisplatin (2 mg/kg BW), and both normal and EAC control groups were also included. The analysis of ascetic fluid tumor, survival study, and hematological, biochemical, antioxidant, and histopathological assays was evaluated in control and treated animal groups. Results: Our in vitro results revealed that the A. australis venom had a selective promising activity against MCF-7 cells (IC 50 = 19.71 μg/mL). Moreover, it was less cytotoxic on WISH cells. The in vivo data showed that A. australis venom exhibited a highly significant decrease in tumor volume, and viable tumor cell count, and increased the duration of lifespan compared to the EAC control group. The venom significantly enhanced both hematological and biochemical measurements compared to the EAC control group. Conclusion: The results revealed that the A. australis venom exhibited in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities. Further venomics studies are needed to functionally characterize the active molecules from this scorpion venom and study their mode of action on cancer cells to develop them into potential anticancer agents.

Gastric ulcer (GU) is a lesion in the gastric mucosa associated with excessive oxidative damage, inflammatory response, apoptotic events, and irritation which may develop into cancer. However, medications commonly used in GU treatment cannot normalize gastric mucosa, while causing several adverse effects. Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are dietary flavonoids with numerous biological and pharmacological activities. In the current investigation, we studied the potential anti-ulcerative activity of PAs against acidified ethanol (HCl/ethanol)-caused gastric ulceration. Fifty male albino Wistar rats were allocated into five equal groups: control, HCl/ethanol (3 mL/kg), lansoprazole (LPZ, 30 mg/kg) + HCl/ethanol, and PAs (100 and 250 mg/kg) + HCl/ethanol. LPZ and PAs were applied one week before gastric ulcer induction. PAs pretreatment

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Background Scorpion venom is a very complicated mixture of various peptides/proteins which could induce toxicological and pharmacological responses. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the possible pharmacological properties (analgesic, antipyretic, and antiinflammatory effects) of the Egyptian scorpion venom Androctonus amoreuxi in mice and rats injected intraperitoneally with 1/10 and 1/5 LD50 (0.11 and 0.22 mg/kg for mice; 0.385 and 0.77 mg/kg for rats, respectively). Results The peripheral and central analgesic effect of A. amoreuxi venom was determined using the tests of mice-abdominal writhing and tail immersion of rats, respectively. The antipyretic and antiinflammatory activities were examined using the pyrexia rats model induced by Brewer’s yeast and the paw mice edema induced by carrageenan, respectively. The venom of A. amoreuxi produced significant (p < 0.05) peripheral and central analgesic activity in both animal models. Also, treatment with the scorpion venom showed significant (p < 0.05) dose-independent reduction in pyrexia of rats. More importantly, the venom significantly inhibited mice paw edema induced by carrageenan. Conclusion Accordingly, the present results showed that the venom of this scorpion possesses remarkable pharmacological properties (analgesic, antipyretic, and antiinflammatory activities) on animal models, and might be contain certain peptides responsible for the reported activities.