TUESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Dermonecrosis due to exposure to the venom of the Loxosceles genus brown spider can be prevented with topical application of tetracycline, according to the results of a rabbit model study published in the June issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Denise V. Tambourgi, Ph.D., of the Instituto Butantan in São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments to show the effect of tetracycline on Loxosceles spider venom.
Using primary cultures of rabbit fibroblasts incubated with venom, tetracyclines prevented the decline in cell viability. In rabbits inoculated with the spider venom, topical treatment with tetracycline reduced the progression of dermonecrotic lesions.
"We have shown here that local application of tetracycline, six hours after envenomation with Loxosceles venom (the average time point after which a patient may consult a physician), significantly reduces lesion formation, and matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 production, suggesting that tetracycline may offer a valuable and relatively safe therapeutic agent in the treatment of cutaneous loxoscelism," the authors conclude.
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