Db. Ferreira et al., AN INFARCT-LIKE MYOCARDIAL LESION EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED IN WISTAR RATS WITH AFRICANIZED BEE VENOM, Journal of pathology, 177(1), 1995, pp. 95-102
There is evidence in the literature that death following a bee or wasp
sting may result from cardiac involvement. This study describes acute
cardiac lesions experimentally induced in Wistar rats submitted to in
travenous inoculation of Africanized bee venom (ABV) and killed 1, 4,
and 24 h after inoculation. Significant increases in serum enzyme leve
ls were detected; light microscopy showed necrosis of the myocardium;
and enzyme histochemistry showed inactivation of enzymes in and around
the areas of necrosis. This is the first report of an acute necrotizi
ng cardiac lesion, similar to human myocardial infarction, produced by
the inoculation of ABV.