A canine study of immunotherapy in scorpion envenomation.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of scorpion venom and antivenom in experimental envenomation.

Design: Prospective, controlled animal study.

Setting: University research laboratory

Subjects: Twenty-nine anesthetized and ventilated dogs.

The mechanism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor quinapril is not related to bradykinin level in heart tissue.

In order to examine the effect of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) quinapril, we performed a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) to quantify bradykinin, BK-(1-9), in heart and kidney tissues. The BK-(1-9) level was unaffected in the heart of sham and water-deprived rats treated for 2h with quinapril (10mg/kg), but was significantly higher in the kidneys in the two groups. In these conditions, circulating and tissue angiotensin II (Ang II) levels were significantly decreased by quinapril.