Muscle Tissue Damage Induced by the Venom of Bothrops asper: Identification of Early and Late Pathological Events through Proteomic Analysis
Fig 1
Histological analysis and myotoxicity induced by B. asper venom in mouse gastrocnemius muscle.
Groups of four mice were injected in the gastrocnemius with 50 μg of B. asper venom. After 1, 6 and 24 h of injection, mice were sacrificed and samples of exudate and muscle tissues were collected for quantification of creatine kinase (CK) activity and histological analysis, respectively. Tissue samples were collected at 1 h (B), 6 h (C) and 24 h (D) after injection and processed for embedding in paraffin. Tissue injected with PBS (A) was used as control. Notice abundant erythrocytes (arrow) at 1 h and 6 h, and abundant infiltration of inflammatory cells at 24 h (asterisk). Hematoxylin–eosin staining. Bar represents 100 μm. (E) CK activity of exudate was quantified using a commercial kit (see Methods for details). Results are expressed as mean ± S.D (n = 4).