Determination of median effective dose (ED(50)) of scorpion antivenom against scorpion envenomation using a newly developed formula

BACKGROUND: About 50 species of scorpions cause fatal scorpionism worldwide. Most of these are members of the Buthidae family, and include, among others, Mesobuthus eupeus, Androctonus crassicauda, Leiurus abdullahbayrami, Leiurus quinquestriatus, Tityus pachyurus and Androctonus australis. Because high doses of scorpion venom and antivenom can cause death and hypersensitive reactions, there is a need to develop a formula that can be used to calculate both lethal and effective doses for scorpion venom and antivenom, respectively, thereby obviating the need for laboratory experiments. METHODS: In view of this, a literature search was carried out with the aim of modifying the formula ([Formula: see text]) for calculation of the median lethal dose (LD(50)) of scorpion venom and the ED(50) of antivenom. The human equivalent dose (HED) formula was assessed for extrapolation of LD(50) and ED(50) from animals to human for comparison and relevance with the new formula. RESULTS: The findings showed that the newly developed formula (LD(50) = ED(50) (1/3) × W (a) × 10(−4)) yielded results that are very close to the reported values. Therefore, the newly developed and HED formulas can be used for calculation of LD(50) and ED(50) values for scorpion venom and antivenom, respectively. CONCLUSION: The new formula yielded better results than the HED formula, confirming its predictive validity, precision, and reliability, thereby obviating the need for rigorous experiments and justifying the principles of reduction, refinement, and replacement (3Rs).