Enzymatic Analysis of Iranian Echis carinatus Venom Using Zymography

Snakebite is a common problem especially in tropical areas all over the world including Iran. Echis carinatus as one of the most dangerous Iranian snakes is spreading in this country excluding central and northwest provinces. In this study gelatinase and fibrinogenolytic properties as two disintegrating matrix metalloproteinase enzymes were evaluated by a strong clear halo between 56-72 kDa in addition to another band located 76-102 kDa for gelatinase and one major band around 38 kDa for fibrinogenolytic enzyme respectively. The electrophorectc profile of our venom demonstrated at least one protein band between 24-31 kDa like previous reports and another two bands between 52-76 kDa and below 17 kDa stemmed probably due to the effect of natural selection in one species. According to our results Razi institute antivenin could neutralize in-vitro effects of gelatinase enzyme comprehensively. The electrophoretic profile of Iranian commercial antivenom as the main intravenous treatment of envenomed patients showed impurities in addition to F (ab')2 weighing 96 kDa in SDS-PAGE analysis. It proposes more efforts for refinement to avoid short and long unwanted effects in envenomed patients.