New Insight Into the Evolutionary Arms Race Between Spider Egg Sac Pseudoparasitoids and Active Maternal Care by the Spiders

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  New Insight Into the Evolutionary Arms Race Between Spider Egg Sac Pseudoparasitoids and Active Maternal Care by the Spiders ABSTRACT Pseudoparasitoids can lead to high mortality in spider egg sacs, and in some cases, they reduce the reproductive success of a spider female to zero. On the other hand, a species that develops within the spider's egg sac uses a limited resource derived from a single egg sac for its larval development. Therefore, the most crucial behaviour that increases the fitness of free-living pseudoparasitoid females is choosing the best host for their offspring. We analysed various points of the counter-adaptations of the spider egg sac pseudoparasitoid and spiders exhibiting active maternal care, utilising the ichneumonid  Hidryta fusiventris  (Thomson, 1873) and the wolf spider  Pardosa lugubris  (Walckenaer, 1802). We showed that the oviposition decision of  H. fusiventris  is based on the spider's egg sac size and that the fema...

Molecular Mechanisms of Efficacy Variation in Antivenoms: Insights from a Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) Bite in Vietnam

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Molecular Mechanisms of Efficacy Variation in Antivenoms: Insights from a Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) Bite in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Although antivenom is the standard treatment for snakebite envenoming, its efficacy may be impacted by geographic variation in venom composition, emphasizing the need for region-specific antivenom development. Methods: We report a case of snakebite envenoming, in which the patient was bitten on the hand by a captive Malayan pit viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) with typical clinical manifestations following. Antivenom (produced in Thailand) was administered at 33 and 39 h post-bite. Venom from the causative individual snake was collected for compositional analysis via SDS-PAGE. Enzymatic activity of the venom was evaluated through the degradation of casein and phospholipid substrates, along with the assessment of enzymatic inhibition by two regionally specific antivenoms produced in Vietnam (AV. Cr. VN.) and Thailand (AV. Cr. TL.). Results: The patient showed good recovery, with complete normalization by day 7. SDS-PAGE profiling of the venom revealed five major enzymes, with SVSP, SVMP and PLA2 being the most abundant (16.7%, 40.11% and 26.11%, respectively). Antivenom inhibition tests revealed remaining casein percentages of 67.43% (AV. Cr. VN) and 59.35% (AV. Cr. TL). Blood agar assays indicated that phospholipase activity was reduced to 21.01% by AV. Cr. VN. and 23.30% by AV. Cr. TL. Conclusions: Our results show that the Vietnamese antivenom generated greater inhibitory activity against proteinases compared to the Thai product, underscoring the importance of using regionally specific antivenoms that are more effective against the venom profiles of locality-matched snake populations.

Le, T. Q., Nguyen, N. T., Pham, Y. B., Vu, M. B., Le, N. T., Nguyen, N. S., Balchan, N. R., Tan, C. H., Duong, T. H., Nguyen, H. H., & Nguyen, T. T. (2025). Molecular Mechanisms of Efficacy Variation in Antivenoms: Insights from a Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) Bite in Vietnam. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 10(12), 331. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed10120331