Hemolysis dependent of complement system.

Human Erythrocytes, pre-treated with VBS²⁺ or with Sicarius ornatus or Loxosceles spp. venoms, were incubated with autologous normal human serum. After incubation for 1 h at 37°C, unlysed cells were spun down; the absorbance of the supernatants was measured at 414 nm and expressed as percentage of lysis. Results are representative for three different experiments and expressed as mean ± SD of duplicates. The variation among experiments was around 10%. (*) Significant differences (P<0.05) from control; (#) Significant differences from Loxosceles spp. venoms (P<0.05); (•) Significant difference between female and male Sicarius ornatus venoms (P<0.05).