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Since the year 2000, the number of rapes in Costa Rica has increased at a rate of 42 cases per year. In 2011, 1786 rape cases were reported to the prosecution offices throughout the country, but only 1081 reports continued through the investigation process by the Judicial Investigation Agency. A randomly collected sample of 272 reports received by Judicial Investigation Agency, between July 2012 and June 2013, were prospectively studied. The analysis was limited to cases reported within 30 days following the rape. Results indicate that most of the provinces in the country show an incidence of about 38 cases/100,000 inhabitants. Ninety-six percent of the victims were women, 50% of which were between 10 and 19 years old. More than 99.5% of violators were men. The rape was perpetrated by a single aggressor in 85% of the cases. It was found that 48% of the victims were within the first 11 days of their menstrual cycle at the time of the attack. Twenty-nine percent of rapes occurred in "high rape-risk" circumstances--e.g., victims attacked by strangers in public outdoors or indoors. Twenty-five percent of rapes occur in "moderate rape-risk" circumstances--e.g., victims attacked indoors at public locations or at the home other than the victim's by relatives, sentimental partners or acquaintances. Fifteen percent of rapes occurred in "low rape-risk" circumstances--e.g., victims attacked in their homes by relatives or sentimental partners. In 67% of the cases the perpetrator was an acquaintance of the victim. Eleven percent of the cases corresponded to rapes in which the perpetrator was a partner or ex-partner of the victim. Fourteen percent and 25% of rapes could be classified as "proactive drug-facilitated rapes" or "opportunistic drug-facilitated rapes", respectively. Semen in the vaginal fluid of victims and the genetic profile of the alleged perpetrator were detected in 55% and 33% of the cases, respectively., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In spite of its small territory of ~50,000km(2), Costa Rica harbors a remarkably rich biodiversity. Its herpetofauna includes 138 species of snakes, of which sixteen pit vipers (family Viperidae, subfamily Crotalinae), five coral snakes (family Elapidae, subfamily Elapinae), and one sea snake (Family Elapidae, subfamily Hydrophiinae) pose potential hazards to human and animal health. In recent years, knowledge on the composition of snake venoms has expanded dramatically thanks to the development of increasingly fast and sensitive analytical techniques in mass spectrometry and separation science applied to protein characterization. Among several analytical strategies to determine the overall protein/peptide composition of snake venoms, the methodology known as 'snake venomics' has proven particularly well suited and informative, by providing not only a catalog of protein types/families present in a venom, but also a semi-quantitative estimation of their relative abundances. Through a collaborative research initiative between Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV) and Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP), this strategy has been applied to the study of venoms of Costa Rican snakes, aiming to obtain a deeper knowledge on their composition, geographic and ontogenic variations, relationships to taxonomy, correlation with toxic activities, and discovery of novel components. The proteomic profiles of venoms from sixteen out of the 22 species within the Viperidae and Elapidae families found in Costa Rica have been reported so far, and an integrative view of these studies is hereby presented. In line with other venomic projects by research groups focusing on a wide variety of snakes around the world, these studies contribute to a deeper understanding of the biochemical basis for the diverse toxic profiles evolved by venomous snakes. In addition, these studies provide opportunities to identify novel molecules of potential pharmacological interest. Furthermore, the establishment of venom proteomic profiles offers a fundamental platform to assess the detailed immunorecognition of individual proteins/peptides by therapeutic or experimental antivenoms, an evolving methodology for which the term 'antivenomics' was coined (as described in an accompanying paper in this special issue)., Biological Significance: Venoms represent an adaptive trait and an example of both divergent and convergent evolution. A deep understanding of the composition of venoms and of the principles governing the evolution of venomous systems is of applied importance for exploring the enormous potential of venoms as sources of chemical and pharmacological novelty but also to fight the consequences of snakebite envenomings. Key to this is the identification of evolutionary and ecological trends at different taxonomical levels. However, the evolution of venomous species and their venoms do not always follow the same course, and the identification of structural and functional convergences and divergences among venoms is often unpredictable by a phylogenetic hypothesis. Snake venomics is a proteomic-centered strategy to deconstruct the complex molecular phenotypes the venom proteomes. The proteomic profiles of venoms from sixteen out of the 22 venomous species within the Viperidae and Elapidae families found in Costa Rica have been completed so far. An integrative view of their venom composition, including the identification of geographic and ontogenic variations, is hereby presented. Venom proteomic profiles offer a fundamental platform to assess the detailed immunorecognition of individual venom components by therapeutic or experimental antivenoms. This aspect is reviewed in the companion paper. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteomics of non-model organisms., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The genus Bothriechis comprises a lineage of nine species of Neotropical pitvipers distributed mainly in highlands across Middle America, all adapted to arboreal habitats. Bothriechis supraciliaris is a relatively recently described species that inhabits the Pacific southwest of Costa Rica, whose venom had never been studied. A proteomic and toxicological profiling of its venom is here reported. Proteins or peptides that belong to eleven families were found, with a predominance of bradykinin-potentiating peptides (21.9%), followed by serine proteinases (15.2%) and phospholipases A(2) (13.4%). A group of short polyglycine peptides, resembling the poly-His/poly-Gly metalloproteinase inhibitors described in Atheris and Echis snake venoms, was observed for the first time in a Bothriechis venom. Comparison of the venom proteome of B. supraciliaris with those of Bothriechis schlegelii, Bothriechis lateralis, and Bothriechis nigroviridis, confirms the highly diverse toxicological strategies evolved by these arboreal snakes in each case, as possible alternative solutions to the same trophic purpose. Toxicological profiling of B. supraciliaris venom revealed a potent hemorrhagic action, moderate myotoxicity, and very weak procoagulant activity. Importantly from the medical perspective, the lethal activity of its venom (mouse intraperitoneal LD(50): 7.1 μg/g) was efficiently neutralized by a polyvalent (Viperidae) antivenom of therapeutic use in Central America., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Within the Neotropical pit vipers, a lineage of primarily Middle American snake species referred to as the "Porthidium group" includes the genera Atropoides, Cerrophidion, and Porthidium. In this study, the venom proteomes of Porthidium nasutum, P. ophryomegas, and Cerrophidion godmani from Costa Rica were analyzed, and correlated to their toxic and enzymatic activities. Their HPLC profiles revealed a higher similarity between the two Porthidium species than between these and C. godmani. Proteins belonging to nine (P. nasutum), eight (P. ophryomegas), and nine (C. godmani) families were identified by mass spectrometry or N-terminal sequencing. Final cataloging of proteins and their relative abundances confirmed the close relationship between venoms of P. nasutum and P. ophryomegas, departing from that of C. godmani. Since the latter species had been taxonomically classified as Porthidium godmani previously, our venomic analyses agree with its current generic status. Venoms of P. nasutum and P. ophryomegas, despite containing abundant metalloproteinases and serine proteinases, lack procoagulant activity on human plasma, in contrast to venom of C. godmani. The latter induced strong myotoxicity in mice, which correlates with its high proportion of phospholipases A(2), whereas venoms from the two Porthidium species, containing lower amounts of these enzymes, induced only mild muscle damage., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: A long term research goal of venomics, of applied importance for improving current antivenom therapy, but also for drug discovery, is to understand the pharmacological potential of venoms. Individually or combined, proteomic and transcriptomic studies have demonstrated their feasibility to explore in depth the molecular diversity of venoms. In the absence of genome sequence, transcriptomes represent also valuable searchable databases for proteomic projects., Results: The venom gland transcriptomes of 8 Costa Rican taxa from 5 genera (Crotalus, Bothrops, Atropoides, Cerrophidion, and Bothriechis) of pitvipers were investigated using high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing. 100,394 out of 330,010 masked reads produced significant hits in the available databases. 5.165,220 nucleotides (8.27%) were masked by RepeatMasker, the vast majority of which corresponding to class I (retroelements) and class II (DNA transposons) mobile elements. BLAST hits included 79,991 matches to entries of the taxonomic suborder Serpentes, of which 62,433 displayed similarity to documented venom proteins. Strong discrepancies between the transcriptome-computed and the proteome-gathered toxin compositions were obvious at first sight. Although the reasons underlaying this discrepancy are elusive, since no clear trend within or between species is apparent, the data indicate that individual mRNA species may be translationally controlled in a species-dependent manner. The minimum number of genes from each toxin family transcribed into the venom gland transcriptome of each species was calculated from multiple alignments of reads matched to a full-length reference sequence of each toxin family. Reads encoding ORF regions of Kazal-type inhibitor-like proteins were uniquely found in Bothriechis schlegelii and B. lateralis transcriptomes, suggesting a genus-specific recruitment event during the early-Middle Miocene. A transcriptome-based cladogram supports the large divergence between A. mexicanus and A. picadoi, and a closer kinship between A. mexicanus and C. godmani., Conclusions: Our comparative next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis reveals taxon-specific trends governing the formulation of the venom arsenal. Knowledge of the venom proteome provides hints on the translation efficiency of toxin-coding transcripts, contributing thereby to a more accurate interpretation of the transcriptome. The application of NGS to the analysis of snake venom transcriptomes, may represent the tool for opening the door to systems venomics.

We report the proteomic characterization and biological activities of the venom of the black-speckled palm pitviper, Bothriechis nigroviridis, a neotropical arboreal pitviper from Costa Rica. In marked contrast to other Bothriechis species investigated, the venom of B. nigroviridis does not possess detectable Zn(2+)-dependent metalloproteinases, and is uniquely characterized by a high content of crotoxin-like PLA(2) and vasoactive peptides. These data suggest that different evolutionary solutions have evolved within the arboreal genus Bothriechis for the same trophic purpose. The venom from B. nigroviridis is devoid of hemorrhagic activity, has low edematogenic and coagulant effects, presents modest myotoxic and phospholipase A(2) activities, but has higher lethality than the venoms of other Bothriechis species. Neutralization of its lethal activity by an anti-Crotalus durissus terrificus antivenom confirmed the major role of crotoxin-like PLA(2) in B. nigroviridis venom-induced lethality.

Phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)) are major components of snake venoms, exerting a variety of relevant toxic actions such as neurotoxicity and myotoxicity, among others. Since the majority of toxic PLA(2)s are basic proteins, acidic isoforms and their possible roles in venoms are less understood. In this study, an acidic enzyme (BaspPLA(2)-II) was isolated from the venom of Bothrops asper (Pacific region of Costa Rica) and characterized. BaspPLA(2)-II is monomeric, with a mass of 14,212 +/- 6 Da and a pI of 4.9. Its complete sequence of 124 amino acids was deduced through cDNA and protein sequencing, showing that it belongs to the Asp49 group of catalytically active enzymes. In vivo and in vitro assays demonstrated that BaspPLA(2)-II, in contrast to the basic Asp49 counterparts present in the same venom, lacks myotoxic, cytotoxic, and anticoagulant activities. BaspPLA(2)-II also differed from other acidic PLA(2)s described in Bothrops spp. venoms, as it did not show hypotensive and anti-platelet aggregation activities. Furthermore, this enzyme was not lethal to mice at intravenous doses up to 100 microg (5.9 microg/g), indicating its lack of neurotoxic activity. The only toxic effect recorded in vivo was a moderate induction of local edema. Therefore, the toxicological characteristics of BaspPLA(2)-II suggest that it does not play a key role in the pathophysiology of envenomings by B. asper, and that its purpose might be restricted to digestive functions. Immunochemical analyses using antibodies raised against BaspPLA(2)-II revealed that acidic and basic PLA(2)s form two different antigenic groups in B. asper venom., (Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The venom proteomes of Bothrops atrox from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Perú were characterized using venomic and antivenomic strategies. Our results evidence the existence of two geographically differentiated venom phenotypes. The venom from Colombia comprises at least 26 different proteins belonging to 9 different groups of toxins. PI-metalloproteinases and K49-PLA(2) molecules represent the most abundant toxins. On the other hand, the venoms from Brazilian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian B. atrox contain predominantly PIII-metalloproteinases. These toxin profiles correlate with the venom phenotypes of adult and juvenile B. asper from Costa Rica, respectively, suggesting that paedomorphism represented a selective trend during the trans-Amazonian southward expansion of B. atrox through the Andean Corridor. The high degree of crossreactivity of a Costa Rican polyvalent (Bothrops asper, Lachesis stenophrys, Crotalus simus) antivenom against B. atrox venoms further evidenced the close evolutionary kinship between B. asper and B. atrox. This antivenom was more efficient immunodepleting proteins from the venoms of B. atrox from Brazil, Ecuador, and Perú than from Colombia. Such behaviour may be rationalized taking into account the lower content of poorly immunogenic toxins, such as PLA(2) molecules and PI-SVMPs in the paedomorphic venoms. The immunological profile of the Costa Rican antivenom strongly suggests the possibility of using this antivenom for the management of snakebites by B. atrox in Colombia and the Amazon regions of Ecuador, Perú and Brazil.

We report the proteomic characterization of the Central American pitvipers Atropoides nummifer and Atropoides picadoi. The crude venoms were fractionated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), followed by analysis of each chromatographic fraction by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), N-terminal sequencing, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass fingerprinting, and collision-induced dissociation-tandem mass spectrometry (CID-MS/MS) of tryptic peptides. Each venom contained a number of bradykinin-potentiating peptides and around 25-27 proteins of molecular masses in the range of 7-112 kDa, belonging to only nine different toxin families (disintegrin, DC fragment, snake venom vascular endothelial growth factor, phospholipases A2, serine protease, cysteine-rich secretory proteins, C-type lectins, L-amino acid oxidase, and Zn2+-dependent metalloproteases), albeit distinctly distributed among the two Atropoides species. In addition, A. nummifer expresses low amounts of a three-finger toxin not detected in the venom of A. picadoi. The major toxins of A. nummifer belong to the PLA2 (relative abundance, 36.5%) and the serine proteinase (22%) families, whereas the most abundant A. picadoi toxins are Zn2+-dependent metalloproteinases (66.4%). We estimate that the similarity of venom proteins between the two Atropoides taxa may be around 14-16%. The high degree of differentiation in the venom proteome among congeneric taxa emphasizes unique aspects of venom composition of related species of Atropoides snakes and points to a strong role for adaptive diversification via natural selection as a cause of this distinctiveness. On the other hand, their distinct venom toxin compositions provide clues for rationalizing the low hemorrhagic, coagulant, and defibrinating activities and the high myotoxic and proteolytic effects evoked by A. nummifer snakebite in comparison to other crotaline snake venoms and the high hemorrhagic activity of A. picadoi.