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Biogenic amines and active polypeptides in the skin of Leptodactylus vilarsi Melin
304
Reviews
the highest hemorrhagic activity ever purified among the hemorrhagic principles of bacterial and animal origins. It is also lethal, rn~=4~6 P.g per mouse. The preparation was homogenous as judged by electrophoresis on a cellulose acetate membrane, iscelectric focusing and immunodiffusion, but not homogenous by ultracentrifugation . The hemorrhagic principle had a molecular weight of approx . 100,000 (s,~ .w=5~8S) and an iscelectric point of 4~3. The hemorrhagic activity was inhibited by such reagents as EDTA, cysteine and formaldehyde but not by DFP or soybean trypsin inhibitor. The preparation contained 7 per cent of the lethality and 0~6 per cent of the proteolytic activity present in the crude venom . A.O. MARErI~,
Z. ßnd
VRTAR,
B. (Medicinski Center, Pula, Yugoslavia). Mycetismus in Istria. Lrfecnickl Vjesnik 90, 631, 1968 .
Tt-iE ltrrrtotts review
the problem of toadstool poisoning in Istria . Between 1964 and 1967, 32 persons between the ages of one and 86 years were treated at the Pula Medical Center for tr~ycetismus . Sixteen of the patients were inhabitants of Istria. The toadstools implicated were Clitocybe olearia and Pleurotus olearius (15 cases), Rhodophyllus livldus (I case), Agaricus campestrir (2 cases), Lyophyllu»r conglobatum (2 cases), and Marasmus oreades (1 case). Five patients were poisoned by dishes made from species of Russula and Lactarius. In the remaining six cases the offending species were not identified . The authors review the clinical findings and treatment. F.E .R . Wrrr,
P. N., Rsso, C. F. and P~tw t, D. B. A Spider's Web: Problems In Regulatory Biology. Berlin : Springer 107 pp., 1968.
who have considered, or tried, tt+eating web-building spiders with venoms or venom fractions in the hopes of developing an additional biological assay, or in studying the behavioral effects of a toxin, will find this text a valuable reference work. Although the book does not treat of work on venoms or animal toxins, it does provide the reader with a thorough knowledge of the techniques he might use in studying web-spinning behavior as a screening pharmacological tool. Among the drugs tested and described are atropine, Phenobarbital, diazepan, strychnine, caffeine and mescaline. This book is highly recommended for the psychopharmacologist, and the experimental approach should be considered by toxinologists interested in those venom fractions which produce deleterious changes in the central nervous system . F.E .R . THOSE
G. F. and Cst, J. M. (Ist. Med. Pharmacology, Univ . Roms, Italy and Ist. Biol ., National Univ. Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina). Biogenie amines and active polypeptides in the skin of Leptodactylus vilarsi Melin. Bioehen. Pharmac. 19, 321, 1970 . ERSPAMER,
Leptodactylus vilarsi, a rare Ecuadorian amphibian belonging to the `pachypus' section of the Leptodactylus genus, contains in its skin a set of biogenic amines . Bufotenidine, the ammonium quaternary base produced by N-meti~ylatIon of 5-I~ydroxytryptamine is the predominant constituent of this set. Dehydrobufotenine, leptodactyline and histamine are also present, but N-methylated derivatives of histamine are lacking. Active polypeptides are represented by large amounts of a caerulein-like peptide. The glandular formations of the skin contain twenty to fifty times more active constituents than the re**±a;ning non-glandular skin . Taxonomically, Leptodactylus vllarsl appears to be related to Leptodactylus pentadactyles dengleri more closely than to any other Leptodactylus species of the `pacl~ypus' section. (Author's abstract) H. M. and Sr~rx, R. B. (Dept. Biology, Univ . Colorado, Boulder, Colorado). Early Foundatioes of Mexican Herpetology. Urbane, Ill., Univ. of Illinois Press, 1969, 85 pp . S~t~x,
nvz~exSSrEn in the development of natu~sl history, and, in particular, herpetology in Mexico will find this small textbook both informative and interesting. For the most part it deals with the publications of Alfredo Augusto Delsescautz Dugts, father of Mexican herpetology . The toxinologist will find a number of references, which until now have not been known to workers in the field, on the venoms and venom apparatus of Mexican snakes andthe Gila monster. Three rare papers should be cited : Apuntes pare la monografla de los cr6talos de Mexico . Naturaleza 4, 1-29, 1876 (a good account of TROSS
TOXICON1971 Vol. 9.
Reviews
the highest hemorrhagic activity ever purified among the hemorrhagic principles of bacterial and animal origins. It is also lethal, rn~=4~6 P.g per mouse. The preparation was homogenous as judged by electrophoresis on a cellulose acetate membrane, iscelectric focusing and immunodiffusion, but not homogenous by ultracentrifugation . The hemorrhagic principle had a molecular weight of approx . 100,000 (s,~ .w=5~8S) and an iscelectric point of 4~3. The hemorrhagic activity was inhibited by such reagents as EDTA, cysteine and formaldehyde but not by DFP or soybean trypsin inhibitor. The preparation contained 7 per cent of the lethality and 0~6 per cent of the proteolytic activity present in the crude venom . A.O. MARErI~,
Z. ßnd
VRTAR,
B. (Medicinski Center, Pula, Yugoslavia). Mycetismus in Istria. Lrfecnickl Vjesnik 90, 631, 1968 .
Tt-iE ltrrrtotts review
the problem of toadstool poisoning in Istria . Between 1964 and 1967, 32 persons between the ages of one and 86 years were treated at the Pula Medical Center for tr~ycetismus . Sixteen of the patients were inhabitants of Istria. The toadstools implicated were Clitocybe olearia and Pleurotus olearius (15 cases), Rhodophyllus livldus (I case), Agaricus campestrir (2 cases), Lyophyllu»r conglobatum (2 cases), and Marasmus oreades (1 case). Five patients were poisoned by dishes made from species of Russula and Lactarius. In the remaining six cases the offending species were not identified . The authors review the clinical findings and treatment. F.E .R . Wrrr,
P. N., Rsso, C. F. and P~tw t, D. B. A Spider's Web: Problems In Regulatory Biology. Berlin : Springer 107 pp., 1968.
who have considered, or tried, tt+eating web-building spiders with venoms or venom fractions in the hopes of developing an additional biological assay, or in studying the behavioral effects of a toxin, will find this text a valuable reference work. Although the book does not treat of work on venoms or animal toxins, it does provide the reader with a thorough knowledge of the techniques he might use in studying web-spinning behavior as a screening pharmacological tool. Among the drugs tested and described are atropine, Phenobarbital, diazepan, strychnine, caffeine and mescaline. This book is highly recommended for the psychopharmacologist, and the experimental approach should be considered by toxinologists interested in those venom fractions which produce deleterious changes in the central nervous system . F.E .R . THOSE
G. F. and Cst, J. M. (Ist. Med. Pharmacology, Univ . Roms, Italy and Ist. Biol ., National Univ. Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina). Biogenie amines and active polypeptides in the skin of Leptodactylus vilarsi Melin. Bioehen. Pharmac. 19, 321, 1970 . ERSPAMER,
Leptodactylus vilarsi, a rare Ecuadorian amphibian belonging to the `pachypus' section of the Leptodactylus genus, contains in its skin a set of biogenic amines . Bufotenidine, the ammonium quaternary base produced by N-meti~ylatIon of 5-I~ydroxytryptamine is the predominant constituent of this set. Dehydrobufotenine, leptodactyline and histamine are also present, but N-methylated derivatives of histamine are lacking. Active polypeptides are represented by large amounts of a caerulein-like peptide. The glandular formations of the skin contain twenty to fifty times more active constituents than the re**±a;ning non-glandular skin . Taxonomically, Leptodactylus vllarsl appears to be related to Leptodactylus pentadactyles dengleri more closely than to any other Leptodactylus species of the `pacl~ypus' section. (Author's abstract) H. M. and Sr~rx, R. B. (Dept. Biology, Univ . Colorado, Boulder, Colorado). Early Foundatioes of Mexican Herpetology. Urbane, Ill., Univ. of Illinois Press, 1969, 85 pp . S~t~x,
nvz~exSSrEn in the development of natu~sl history, and, in particular, herpetology in Mexico will find this small textbook both informative and interesting. For the most part it deals with the publications of Alfredo Augusto Delsescautz Dugts, father of Mexican herpetology . The toxinologist will find a number of references, which until now have not been known to workers in the field, on the venoms and venom apparatus of Mexican snakes andthe Gila monster. Three rare papers should be cited : Apuntes pare la monografla de los cr6talos de Mexico . Naturaleza 4, 1-29, 1876 (a good account of TROSS
TOXICON1971 Vol. 9.