In Israel, Vipera xantina palestinae (V.x.p.) is the most common venomous snake, accounting for several hundred cases of envenomation in humans and domestic animals every year, with a mortality rate of 0.5 to 2%. In this review we will briefly address the research developments relevant to our present understanding of the structure and function of V.x.p. venom with emphasis on venom disintegrins...

The rates at which venomous animals produce venoms are of obvious biological and medical importance, but factors influencing those rates remain poorly understood. We gathered data on venom yield (wet mass of venom) and percentage solids (dry mass of the venom divided by wet mass) for 53 eastern brownsnakes (Pseudonaja textilis) and 36 mainland tigersnakes (Notechis scutatus) over a 4-year perio...

A 40-year-old man presented with a nonhealing wound on the left ankle for the last 5 weeks, a tingling sensation in both hands for 20 days, and weakness in all four limbs for 10 days. He had been bitten by a snake while working in a sugarcane field 6 weeks earlier and had received tetanus toxoid and anti-snake venom on the day of the bite. He had clinical, biochemical, and electrophysiological ...

During the generation of abundant expressed sequence tags from the Viperidae snake Bothrops insularis venom glands, we identified for the first time a cDNA coding for a putative vascular endothelial growth factor-like (VEGF-like) protein. The deduced primary sequence, after complete sequencing of the longest snake venom VEGF (svVEGF) cDNA, displayed similarity with vertebrate VEGFs and with the...

In Latin America, Bothrops snakes account for most snake bites in humans, and the recommended treatment is administration of multispecific Bothrops antivenom (SAB--soro antibotrópico). However, Bothrops snakes are very diverse with regard to their venom composition, which raises the issue of which venoms should be used as immunizing antigens for the production of pan-specific Bothrops antivenom...

Because snake venoms are complex mixtures of bioactive molecules, snake bites produce a large panel of symptoms which cannot be totally prevented by current antivenoms. Thus investigating plant extracts for antivenomics therapy approaches seemed relevant. Here, we evaluated the potency of the aqueous Buds extract of Eucalyptus (ABEE) to counteract the main enzymatic activities of Montivipera bo...

The incidence of venomous snake bites increases every year in Thailand, especially due to green pit viper. After the bite, there is bleeding due to thrombin-like property of the venom. The mean platelet volume has been reported to be decreased in those who have been bitten by this snake. In this study we investigate the effect of green pit viper venom (Trimeresurus albolabris) on platelet volum...