In Africa, the most notorious of snake species is the black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). It is feared for its potent rapid-acting venom [7] and its characteristic feature of typically striking more than once. The problem is that it always injects venom in its bite. So a bite from this species has an almost 100% fatality rate if left untreated. Other venomous African snake species that pose a ...

all desalination methods which are currently used have limitations. a newly designed instrument by zare a.m. was tested and compared with currently used method in razi vaccine and serum research institute(rvsri). samples of anti snake venom for desalination was provided by department of anti-serum, rvsri. parameters included in this study were time and water consumption during desalination proc...

Jay W. Fox and José María Gutiérrez recently finished editing a Special Issue on the topic "Snake Venom Metalloproteinases" in Toxins. The Special Issue covers a wide range of topics, including the molecular evolution and structure of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs), the mechanisms involved in the generation of diversity of SVMPs, the mechanism of action of SVMPs, and their role in the p...

Toxicity of snake envenomation depends on many parameters such as type and the size of the snake, the amount of venom injection, the number of bites, the age of bitten person, the bite area and sensitivity to the venom. The presence of systemic diseases in bitten individuals and age factor may affect the clinical picture. The majority of snake bites occur in the extremities and compartment synd...

Objective: Envenomation by heamotoxic snakes constituted a critical health occurrence in the world. Bleeding is the most sever consequence following snake bite with viperid and crothalid snakes. It is believed that the degradation of vascular membrane caused hemorrhage; in contrast, some suggested that direct cytotoxicity has role in endothelial cell disturbances. This study was to evaluate the...

Background The benefits from treatment with antivenom sera are indubitable. However, the mechanism for toxin neutralization has not been completely elucidated. A mixture of anti-bothropic and anti-crotalic horse antivenom has been reported to be more effective in neutralizing the effects of B. jararacussu snake venom than anti-bothropic antivenom alone. This study determined which regions in th...

Lately several naturally occurring peptides presenting antimicrobial activity have been described in the literature. However, snake venoms, which are an enormous source of peptides, have not been fully explored for searching such molecules. The aim of this work is to review the basis of antimicrobial mechanisms revealing snake venom as a feasible source for searching an antibiotic prototype. Th...

Snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) are abundant in the venoms of vipers and rattlesnakes, playing important roles for the snake adaptation to different environments, and are related to most of the pathological effects of these venoms in human victims. The effectiveness of SVMPs is greatly due to their functional diversity, targeting important physiological proteins or receptors in different...

Neutralization effects of Acorus calamus and Withania somnifera root extracts were tested against Echis carinatus venom. Both plant extracts were effectively neutralized the various pharmacological activities induced by Echis carinatus venom. About 0.14 mg of Acorus calamus and 0.16 mg of Withania somnifera root extracts were able to completely neutralize the lethal a...