Neurodegenerative diseases are relentlessly progressive, severely impacting affected patients, families and society as a whole. Increased life expectancy has made these diseases more common worldwide. Unfortunately, available drugs have insufficient therapeutic effects on many subtypes of these intractable diseases, and adverse effects hamper continued treatment. Wasp and bee venoms and their components are potential means of managing or reducing these effects and provide new alternatives for the control of neurodegenerative diseases. These venoms and their components are well-known and irrefutable sources of neuroprotectors or neuromodulators. In this respect, the present study reviews our current understanding of the mechanisms of action and future prospects regarding the use of new drugs derived from wasp and bee venom in the treatment of major neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Based on the analyses of specimens collected at several areas in the Cerrado domain from Central Brazil and others housed in scientific collections and on specimens collected at the type-locality, herein we describe three new species belonging to the P. cristiceps group: Proceratophrys bagnoi sp. nov., from UHE Serra da Mesa power plant (13°49’47.5”S, 48°19’17”W; 570 m a.s.l.; WGS84 datum), Municipality of Minaçu, State of Goiás; Proceratophrys branti sp. nov., from Jalapão, Municipality of Mateiros (05o15’25”S, 48o12’00”W; 109 m a.s.l.; WGS84 datum), State of Tocantins; and Proceratophrys dibernardoi sp. nov., Municipality of Mineiros (17o33’52”S, 52o33’20”W; 803 m a.s.l.; WGS84 datum), State of Goiás. The diversity of Proceratophrys in Brazilian Cerrado is still underscored and several species will be described in the following years.

Scorpion venoms are a complex mixture of components. Among them the most important are peptides, which presents the capacity to interact and modulate several ion channel subtypes, including voltage-gated sodium channels (Na_V). Screening the activity of scorpion toxins on different subtypes of Na_V reveals the scope of modulatory activity and, in most cases, low channel selectivity. Until now there are approximately 60 scorpion toxins experimentally assayed on Na_V channels. However, the molecular bases of interaction between scorpion toxins and Na_V channels are not fully elucidated. The activity description of new scorpion toxins is crucial to enhance the predictive strength of the structural–function correlations of these Na_V modulatory molecules. In the present work a new scorpion toxin (Tf1a) was purified from Tityus fasciolatus venom by RP-HPLC, and characterized using electrophysiological experiments on different types of voltage-gated sodium channels. Tf1a was able to modify the normal function of Na_V tested, showing to be a typical β-NaScTx. Tf1a also demonstrated an unusual capability to alter the kinetics of Na_V1.5.