Neuropharmacological profile of Parawixin-11, purified from Parawixia bistriata spider venom (Araneae, Araneidae), in Wistar rats

Abstract The pharmacological treatment of epilepsy is often complex, involving lack of efficacy in several patients due to individual characteristics and profound side effects from current drugs such as sedation, motor impairment and teratogenesis. In the context of drug development for epilepsy, animal venoms represent an important source of new neuroactive molecules acting in different targets such as ion channels and neurotransmitter receptor. In this work we investigated the antiepileptic potential of compounds isolated from the venom of Parawixia bistriata spider. One compound, named here as Parawixin-11, revealed anticonvulsivant effect against seizures induced by bicuculline, pentylenetetrazole, strychnine, pilocarpine and NMDA in a dose-response manner. We also investigated whether the intracerebroventricular administration of Parawixin-11 induced significant motor or cognitive impairment in rats submitted to three tests: open field, rotarod and Morris water maze. No difference was observed on exploration or movement when animals were treated with either 0.3, 0.2 or 0.1 ug of Parawixin-11. An increased latency to find platform was observed in the acquisition phase of the Morris water maze test even though no difference in retention of spatial memory was observed. Considering that Parawixin-11 was more potent against NMDA induced crisis, we hypothesize that this molecule might be modulating the glutamatergic system, consistent with the mechanism of several spider polyamines.