ABSTRACT
Bothrops venezuelensis snake venoms, from five localities in the North-Central Venezuelan regions, showed biochemical and haemostatic differences. In this study, bioactivities of B. venezuelensis venoms from different regions (Aragua state; Waraira Repano (Capital District); Baruta, La Boyera and Lagunetica (Miranda state)) were compared using both natural and synthetic substrates. The protein contents of these venoms were Lagunetica 89%, La Boyera 79%, Baruta 71%, Waraira Repano 68% and Aragua 64%. Toxic activities effects were: Intraperitoneal LD50s: Aragua-14â¯mg/kg; Waraira Repano-6.4â¯mg/kg; Baruta: 8.3â¯mg/kg; La Boyera-4.4â¯mg/kg; Lagunetica-16.2â¯mg/kg. The MHD results: Aragua-21.4⯵g/mouse; Waraira Repano-2.5⯵g/mouse; Baruta-1.2⯵g/mouse; La Boyera-1.4⯵g/mouse and Lagunetica-12⯵g/mouse. The hide powder azure results: Aragua-1.24â¯U/mg; La Boyera-2.26â¯U/mg; Baruta-2.83â¯U/mg; Lagunetica-3.28â¯U/mg and Waraira Repano-5.77â¯U/mg. Esterase specific activity on BAEE results: Waraira Repano-666.66â¯U/mg; La Boyera-805.5â¯U/mg; Baruta-900.00â¯U/mg; Lagunetica-922.19â¯U/mg and Aragua-1960.67â¯U/mg. Casein zymography showed digestion bands in the molecular weight above 100 and at 66.2 and 21.5â¯kDa. Analysis of casein degradation by SDS-PAGE showed two different degradation patterns. Fibrinolytic activity (mm2/µg) on fibrin plates results: Aragua-6.07; Lagunetica-27.6; Waraira Repano-35.7; La Boyera-44.27 and Baruta-45.63. In the fibrinogenolytic assay, the five venoms completely degraded the α chain after 1â¯min of incubation. None of the venoms completely degraded the ß and γ chains after 24â¯h incubation. The research indicated that venoms of B. venezuelensis of different geographic areas in Venezuela exhibit variances in composition and component concentrations; except the Aragua venom, all of them had high proteolytic activities.