Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil

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  Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil ABSTRACT Aim Beta diversity analyses clarify mechanisms structuring ecological communities, but their multidimensional facets remain poorly explored in arthropods. Here, we quantified taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional beta diversity in scorpions, partitioned these facets into species replacement and richness differences, and evaluated the relative importance of spatial structure and environmental conditions in driving community assembly. Location Northeastern Brazil, South America. Taxon Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Methods Taxonomic beta diversity was estimated using species presence across 70 sites in northeastern Brazil. Phylogenetic turnover was calculated from a multi-locus molecular tree, and functional beta diversity was derived from morphometric and ecological traits. All beta diversity facets were decomposed into replacement and richness-difference component...

Efficacy of oxygen-ozone therapy against the pro-necrotic action of Loxosceles rufescens toxic bite

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Efficacy of oxygen-ozone therapy against the pro-necrotic action of Loxosceles rufescens toxic bite

The bite of the Mediterranean recluse spider (Loxosceles rufescens Dufour, 1820, Araneae, Sicaridae) (Fig. 1A) has recently appeared in Italian news as the cause of fatal injuries that have led at least four people to death due to severe necrotic-inflammatory complications following exposure to the spider's toxic venom [1]. Following Loxosceles spiders’ bite, unless the victim has realized that the spider was close to him and due to the frequent absence of a verified culprit, a dramatic skin inflammatory and necrotic reaction can occur in rapid times, dumbfounding the victim. The reaction is known as loxoscelism and often involving phospholipases D as major components of the spider’s venom [2]. These ubiquitous group of enzymes, producing phosphatidic acid as a signaling molecule from degrading membrane phospholipids, induces an oxidative stress-mediated necrosis of tissues, for example vascular tissues [3]. Blocking the oxidative stress might be a possible therapeutical approach to halting the inflammatory necrotizing response caused by spiders of the Loxosceles genus.

Valdenassi, L., Franzini, M., Ricevuti, G., Tirelli, U., Carlo Galoforo, A., Vaiano, F., & Chirumbolo, S. (2024). Efficacy of oxygen-ozone therapy against the pro-necrotic action of Loxosceles rufescens toxic bite. International Immunopharmacology, 142, 113112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2024.113112