BACKGROUND Snake bite is a major neglected public health issue within poor communities living in the rural areas of several countries throughout the world. An estimated 2.5 million people are bitten by snakes each year and the cost and lack of efficacy of current anti-venom therapy, together with the lack of detailed knowledge about toxic components of venom and their modes of action, and the u...

BACKGROUND Snake venoms contain many proteinaceous toxins that can cause severe pathology and mortality in snakebite victims. Interestingly, mRNA encoding such toxins can be recovered directly from venom, although yields are low and quality is unknown. It also remains unclear whether such RNA contains information about toxin isoforms and whether it is representative of mRNA recovered from conve...

Understanding snake venom pharmacokinetics is essential for developing risk assessment strategies and determining the optimal dose and timing of antivenom required to bind all venom in snakebite patients. This review aims to explore the current knowledge of snake venom pharmacokinetics in animals and humans. Literature searches were conducted using EMBASE (1974-present) and Medline (1946-presen...

Crotalus durissus cumanensis, a rattlesnake endemic to Colombia and Venezuela, is considered one of the most lethal snake species in Latin America. The aim of the present study was to compare the protein content and biological activity of the venom obtained from eight specimens of C. durissus cumanensis, namely two adults from different localities of Colombia and six offspring born in captivity...

this study was done to determine whether high or low dose of anti-snake venom (asv) is better in coagulopathy in victims of envenoming by vipers. this retrospective study was conducted on the 154 patients (mean age ± sd, range) of viper snake bites who were referred to the emergency ward of razi hospital, ahvaz, iran over 2 years period (2004 - 2006). according to the treatment dosage the patie...

The same selective forces that give rise to rapid inter- and intraspecific divergence in snake venoms can also favor differences in venoms across life-history stages. Ontogenetic changes in venom composition are well known and widespread in snakes but have not been investigated to the level of unambiguously identifying the specific loci involved. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake was previous...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Snake-bites are the common cause of morbidity and mortality in tropical countries. In India, there are 216 species of snakes, of which only four are venomous snakes (cobra, krait, Russell's viper and saw scaled viper). This study was undertaken to find out the epidemiological profile of snake-bite incidences in the State of Andhra Pradesh, based on the data collected from...

The effect of aqueous extract of Echinacea purpurea roots on the murine antibody response to Bothrops asper snake venom in vivo was studied. Three groups were used. Group #1, baseline control, was treated with snake venom plus PBS. Group #2 was treated with snake venom plus sodium alginate as adjuvant (routine method used at Instituto Clodomiro Picado), and group #3 or experimental group, was t...

OBJECTIVE To look into the feasibility of using cobra snake venom in suppressing breast cancer tissue through inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis. METHODS Samples of breast cancerous tissue, obtained from Atomic Energy Medical Center, LMCH, Jamshoro, incubated with varying concentrations of venom and without venom (as controls) were assayed for macromolecular (RNA and DNA) levels RESULTS N...