Cytotoxiciy ofNaja nubiae(Serpentes: Elapidae) andEchis ocellatus(Serpentes: Viperidae) Venoms from Sudan

[摘要] In Sudan, as in many African countries, no local specific antivenom is manufactured resulting in snake bite victims being treated by antivenoms imported from abroad. In the present work we measured the cytotoxic effect of the recently described spitting cobra (Naja nubiae) and the carpet viper (Echis ocellatus) snake venoms using a cell based assay. We also investigated the efficacy of four antivenoms CSL (Australia), SAIMR (South Africa), snake venom antiserum (India), and EchiTAb-Plus-ICP (Cost Rica) to neutralize the cytotoxic effect of the two venoms. The venoms resulted in a remarkable inhibition of cell viability withN. nubiaebeing more cytotoxic thanE. ocellatus. The four antivenoms studied were effective in neutralizingN. nubiaecytotoxicity. However, only partial efficacy in neutralizing the cytotoxic effect ofE. ocellatuswas achieved using CSL (Australia) and SVA (India) antivenoms. Based on the cross neutralization by the four antivenoms, the SudaneseN. nubiaevenom most likely has homologous epitopes with similar snakes from Australia, South Africa, India, and Cost Rica, whileE. ocellatusvenom from Sudan shares little homology with similar snakes from other countries.

[学科分类] 环境健康和生态毒理学