Avaliação do efeito do veneno de Dinoponera quadriceps na fase inflamatória aguda da cicatrização de úlceras cutâneas traumáticas em camundongos

Abstract

Cutaneous wounds are traumatic events that break the skin’s integrity and cause problems for the body, even leading to death. Wound healing is a process divided into 4 phases (homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodeling) seeking to restore the ulcerated area, leaving an aesthetically satisfactory scar in place. Pain is an element often present throughout the healing process and is, therefore, one of the most studied clinical symptoms. The use of anti-inflammatory drugs to battle it is very widespread, but its side effects still cause a lot of harm to patients undergoing medium to long-term treatments. The study of alternative compounds found in nature has been growing in recent years. Dinoponera quadriceps (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae) is a giant ant, endemic to the northeastern region of Brazil, that produces a proteinaceous venom whose antinociceptive properties have been proved. Thus, the present study evaluated the analgesic action of the venom in the treatment of cutaneous wounds, as well its anti-inflammatory action. The venom of D. quadriceps (DqV) inhibited hypernociception on the Von Frey test on the following periods: 0.5 hr (277.6 ± 21.9 g vs. saline: 61.7 ± 11 g); 1 hour (269.9 ± 23.7 g vs. saline: 71.2 ± 13.3 g); 6 hr (285.8 ± 17.4 g vs. saline: 107 ± 17.9 g); 12 hour (285.9 ± 49.2 g vs. saline: 55.6 ± 15.2 g); 24 hr (317.5 ± 37.4 g vs. saline: 63.2 ± 19.9 g); and 48 hr (325.65 ± 16 g vs. saline: 77 ± 22.4 g). The evaluation of polimorfonuclear cells infiltration by histological analysis also showed a significant reduction during 0.5 hr (31 ± 8.66 PMN) and 6 hr (30 ± 9.16 PMN) when compared to saline in the same times (88 PMN ± 9.07; 84.33 ± 20.57 PMN). We conclude that D. quadriceps’s venom has antinociceptive property.