Melittin and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from bee (Apis mellifera) venom were rested for their ability to induce necrosis of skeletal muscle cells after intramuscular injection into mice. Light and electron microscopic examination of tissue indicated that both melittin (4 micrograms/g) and bee venom PLA2 (4 micrograms/g) caused necrosis of skeletal muscle cells within 30 min after i.m. injection. Early changes in the cells consisted of delta lesions, indicating a ruptured plasma membrane, and hypercontraction of myofibrils. By 24 hr the affected cells appeared as an amorphous mass of disorganized and disrupted myofibrils contained in an intact basal lamina. To ensure that the myotoxic activity of the melittin preparation was not due to contaminating. PLA2 activity, the preparation was treated with p-bromophenacyl bromide (p-BPB), a known inhibitor of PLA2 activity. The p-BPB-treated melittin was determined to have no detectable PLA2 activity using a sensitive muscle cell culture assay, and it still induced myonecrosis, although to a lesser extent and of a slower onset. Additionally, p-BPB treatment of purified bee venom PLA2 completely inhibited its myotoxic activity. These results indicate that both melittin and bee venom PLA2 are capable of inducing necrosis of skeletal muscle cells upon i.m. injection, and that the catalytic and myotoxic activities of bee venom PLA2 are inihibited by p-BPB. Also, melittin and contaminating PLA2 in the melittin fraction may be acting synergistically to induce a stronger and more rapid myotoxic effect than occurs with either alone.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
4%
Other
4
7%
Unknown
14
25%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 May 2018.
All research outputs
#9,515,244
of 27,777,630 outputs
Outputs from Toxicon
#1,179
of 3,590 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#22,477
of 99,692 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Toxicon
#5
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 27,777,630 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,590 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.3. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
