Anticonvulsant and GABA uptake inhibition properties of venom fractions from the spiders Parawixia bistriata and Scaptocosa raptoria

Abstract

In this article we describe an in vivo anticonvulsant effect from denatured crude venom and partially isolated fractions from two spiders: Parawixia bistriata and Scaptocosa raptoria. Intracerebroventricular injections of these venoms and fractions abolished rat convulsive tonic-clonic seizures induced by picrotoxin, bicuculline and pentylenetetrazole, and also, inhibited GABA uptake in synaptosomes of rat cerebral cortex. the venoms described in this work seems to be promising tools for the study of the GABAergic system, and may be a potential source for new anticonvulsant drugs.