Opposing roles of LTB4 and PGE2 in regulating the inflammasome-dependent scorpion venom-induced mortality

Abstract

Scorpion venom causes thousands of deaths worldwide. Here the authors show that the envenomation acts via prostaglandin E2 leading to inflammasome activation and lung pathology, counterbalanced by inflammation-limiting LTB4, and that COX inhibitors or exogenous LTB4 rescue the venom-induced mortality in mice.