Intraspecific variation in neurotoxic and myotoxic activities of Bothrops neuwiedii venoms
J. venom. anim. toxins
;
8(1): 88-101, 2002. ilus, tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-303724
ABSTRACT
Snake venoms frequently vary in composition. In this work, we compared the neurotoxic and myotoxic activities of 16 lots of Bothrops neuwiedii venoms from different regions of Brazil, using chick biventer cervicis preparations. The neuromuscular blockade varied from 2 per cent to 100 per cent after 120 min incubation with venoms (50µg/ml). In all cases, this blockade was irreversible and concentration-dependent; at low concentrations (10-20 µg/ml), 15 of the 16 venom lots failed to abolish responses to acetylcholine (110µM), but blocked responses to KCI (13.4mM), and induced contracture. At 5-20µg/ml, the most active venom totally blocked twitch-tension without affecting responses to acetylcholine and KCI. Polyacrylamine gel electrophoresis for basic proteins showed that the most active samples contained a band that was absent in the less active venoms. These results indicate that there may be considerable intraspecific variation in the neurotoxic activity of B. ineuwiedii venoms, whereas myotoxic activity is less variable.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Brazil
/
Chickens
/
Bothrops
/
Crotalid Venoms
/
Myotonia
/
Nervous System
/
Neurotoxins
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
J. venom. anim. toxins
Journal subject:
Toxicology
Year:
2002
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Estadual de Campinas/BR
/
Universidade de Säo Paulo/BR
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