Investigation of the efficacy of cobra antidote in acute scorpion envenomation

This thesis was carried out to investigate the efficacy of cobra antidote used in acute scorpion envenomations. The study aims to develop an effective treatment method against Androctonus crassicauda scorpion stings, which are common in Turkey and cause serious health problems especially in hot climate regions. In our study, six different groups, each containing six rats, were formed and treated with different combinations of scorpion venom and cobra antidote. Within the scope of this study, hematologic, biochemical and histopathologic analyses were performed. Histopathologically, in the scorpion venom treated groups, hyperemia in the vena centralis, sinusoidal dilatation areas, increase in Kupffer star cell activation, degenerative changes in hepatocytes were observed in the liver, while in the kidney tissue, hyperemia and thrombosis formation area in the vessels, enlargement in the glomerulus bowman space, degeneration areas in the tubulus epithelial cells were detected and statistically (p<0.05) positive changes were observed in the antidote treated groups compared to the venom group. In hematological analysis, there was a statistical difference (p<0.05) in blood parameters such as WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT and LYM, while there was no statistical difference (p<0.05) in HCT, MCH, MCHC and PLT parameters. Biochemically, there was a statistical difference (p<0.05) in CK value, while there was no statistical difference (p˃0.05) in AST, ALT and GGT values. In conclusion, we believe that the use of cobra antidote in acute scorpion envenomations will be beneficial in terms of histopathologic, hematologic and biochemical parameters. In addition, in the light of the data we obtained, we think that cobra antidote treatment in scorpion envenomations may alleviate the effects of venom on the body and prevent venom-induced damages and further studies are needed for the clinical use of cobra antidote.