Bothrops moojeni snake venom-induced renal glomeruli changes in rat.

Abstract

Abstract. The venom of Bothrops moojeni has potent proteolytic and phospholipase A 2 activities. In previous work, we showed that intravenous injection of this venom in rats decreased creatinine clearance and caused tubular dysfunction and histopathological changes with no alterations in blood pressure. The current study used scanning and transmission electron microscopy to assess the ultrastructural changes caused by B. moojeni venom (0.4 mg/kg i.v.) in rat renal glomeruli and correlated these alterations with the severity of proteinuria 5 hours, 16 hours, and 48 hours after venom injection. The changes included mesangiolysis, glomerular microaneurysms, and glomerular basement membrane (GBM) abnormalities. In addition, there was a reduction in the number and width of podocyte pedicels, which caused a reduction in the number of filtration slits. Electron-dense amorphous material, which may be proteinaceous in origin, was found in the pedicels. The severity of the ultrastructural abnormalities correlated with the level of proteinuria. These morphophysiological changes were attributed to biochemical and physiological disturbances in the components of the GBM and mesangial matrix as well as in cytoskeleton-associated proteins of podocytic processes, and could account for the breakdown of optimal glomerular filtration barrier functioning. These results, together with the absence of appreciable glomerular fibrin deposits, support the hypothesis of a direct activity of B. moojeni venom on rat kidneys. Proteolytic activity of the venom on renal glomeruli could then contribute to the onset of acute renal failure, and would explain the clinical manifestations of renal injury after bites by this and other Bothrops species.

Evaluation of snake envenomation-induced renal dysfunction in dogs using early urinary biomarkers of nephrotoxicity

“…An added value of uIgG in selectivity of proteinuria was also described in dogs with different types of nephropaties (Maddens et al, , 2011Vinge et al, 2010;Smets et al, 2012;Nabity et al, 2012). Elevation of both these markers of glomerular injury in this study also correlates well with described venom-induced histopathological lesions in kidneys of humans, dogs and rats (Rehan et al, 1986;Boer-Lima et al, 2002;Kanjanabuch and Sitprija, 2008;Mello et al, 2010).…”

“…Rats injected with viperid venom also demonstrated a significant decline in proteinuria 48 h post-injection (Boer-Lima et al, 2002). Despite these observations, further in vivo studies assessing the course of events ultimately leading to proteinuria and renal failure after snake envenomation are needed.…”

Acute Kidney Injury Induced by Snake and Arthropod Venoms

“…In addition, there was a reduction in the number and width of podocyte pedicels, which caused a reduction in the number of filtration slits. The morphophysiological changes observed in experimental animals also correlated with the levels of proteinuria (Boer-Lima et al, 2002). Similar renal functional alterations were observed after intravenous injection of B. jararaca venom into rats.…”

Effect of angiotensin II and losartan on the phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages from Balb/C mice

“…The coverslips were mounted with antifading Vectashield media. The immunofluorescence staining was examined in a Bio-Rad scaning laser confocal microscope equipped with an Axovert 100 microscope (Boer-Lima et al 2002).…”