Scorpion venoms consist of a complex of several toxins that exhibit a wide range of biological properties and actions, as well as chemical compositions, toxicity, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics. These venoms are associated with high morbility and mortality, especially among children. Victims of envenoming by a scorpion suffer a variety of pathologies, involving mainly both sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation as well as central manifestations such as irritability, hyperthermia, vomiting, profuse salivation, tremor, and convulsion. The clinical signs and symptoms observed in humans and experimental animals are related with an excessive systemic host inflammatory response to stings and stings, respectively. Although the pathophysiology of envenomation is complex and not yet fully understood, venom and immune responses are known to trigger the release of inflammatory mediators that are largely mediated by cytokines. In models of severe systemic inflammation produced by injection of high doses of venom or venoms products, the increase in production of proinflammatory cytokines significantly contributes to immunological imbalance, multiple organ dysfunction and death. The cytokines initiate a cascade of events that lead to illness behaviors such as fever, anorexia, and also physiological events in the host such as activation of vasodilatation, hypotension, and increased of vessel permeability.

The literature on the use of medicinal plants in wound healing was comprehensively searched to obtain and assess the data. The data were procured via clinical studies that utilized medicinal plants and their compounds in vitro and in vivo for wound healing. This review collected data from electronic databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, SciFinder, Thesis, and Scopus, using the search terms “natural products”, “wound healing”, and “natural compounds”, along with the keywords “plants”, “extracts”, and “phytochemicals”. Results from the last decade reveal a total of 62 families and 109 genera of medicinal plants, and their compounds have been studied experimentally both in vivo and in vitro and clinically found to effectively promote healing. This activity is related to the presence of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds, which act at different stages through different mechanisms to exert anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant effects, confirming that the use of medicinal plants could be an adequate alternative to current conventional practices for treating wounds.

Bougainvillea is widely used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat several diseases. This study was designed to characterize the chemical constituents of B. x buttiana extracts with antioxidant and cytotoxic activities using different solvents. The extraction solvents used were as follows: distilled water (dH₂O), methanol (MeOH), acetone (DMK), ethanol (EtOH), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), dichloromethane (DCM), and hexane (Hex) (100%) at an extraction temperature of 26 °C. Analysis of bioactive compounds present in the B. x buttiana extracts included the application of common phytochemical screening assays, GC-MS analysis, and cytotoxicity and antioxidant assays. The results show that the highest extraction yield was observed with water and methanol. The maximum total phenolic content amount and highest antioxidant potential were obtained when extraction with methanol was used. With the exceptions of water and ethanol extractions, all other extracts showed cytotoxicity ranging between 31% and 50%. The prevailing compounds in water, methanol, ethanol, and acetone solvents were as follows: 4H-pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3, 5-dihydroxy-6-methyl (2), 2-propenoic acid, 3-(2-hydrophenyl)-(E)- (3), and 3-O-methyl-d-glucose (6). By contrast, the major components in the experiments using solvents such as EtOH, DMK, EtOAc, DCM, and Hex were n-hexadecanoic acid (8), 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z) (12); 9-octadecenoic acid (E)- (13), and stigmasta-5,22-dien-3-ol (28).

This review discusses the current knowledge of the phytochemistry andin vitroandin vivoevaluations carried out using the extracts and, where appropriate, the main active components isolated from the genusBougainvillea. Out of 18 species, most phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological studies focused on four species with different cultivars and one hybrid. Some plants are used for the treatment of various health disorders. Numerous phytochemical investigations of plants in this genus confirm the presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, volatile compounds, phenolic compounds, peltogynoids, flavonoids, phytosterols, terpenes, carbohydrates, and betalains. Various studies have confirmed that these extracts or active substances that were isolated from the genusBougainvilleahave multiple pharmacological activities. Some species ofBougainvilleahave emerged as sources of traditional medicine in human health. More studies of the phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological properties and their mechanisms of action, safety, and efficacy in allBougainvillea species, cultivars, and hybrids are advisable for future research.

Cutaneous inoculation of Loxosceles spp. spider venoms produces local necrosis, occasionally accompanied by systemic intravascular clotting and hemolysis. In this work, we analyzed the role of the C system on the lysis of human erythrocytes (Eh) induced by Loxosceles venoms in vitro. Eh were treated with whole venom of Loxosceles laeta, Loxosceles gaucho, or Loxosceles intermedia, or with purified venom proteins, and incubated with C-sufficient (Cs-NHS) or C9-depleted autologous (C9d-NHS) serum. Hemolysis was determined spectrophotometrically, and deposition of C components or removal of C regulatory proteins was analyzed by FACS. Eh suspensions exposed to venoms or to a purified 35-kDa protein from L. intermedia were lysed after incubation with Cs-NHS, but not with C9d-NHS. Lysis was blocked by heating the serum at 50 degrees C or Ca2+/Mg2+ chelation by EDTA, but not by Ca2+ chelation with EGTA. Deposition of C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and factor B on the venom-treated Eh occurred during activation of autologous C. Regulatory proteins decay-accelerating factor (DAF) and CD59 were not altered significantly. Conversion of C-resistant Eh into C-susceptible Eh by the L. intermedia venom was accompanied by incorporation of a 35-kDa venom protein onto the cell surface. Thirty-five-kilodalton-related proteins were detected in the two other Loxosceles venoms by ELISA, using rabbit antiserum against the L. intermedia 35-kDa protein. These data suggest that the C system mediates the lysis of human erythrocytes and, by extension, of other cell types able to incorporate the lytic factor of Loxosceles venoms on their cell surfaces.