RESUMO
The Black mamba, D. polylepis, is one of the many venomous snakes found in Kenya, and known to account for some snakebite incidents. The Kenyan Ministry of Health data reveals annual 15,000 snakebites occurrences. Also, 1 in 15 people in Kenya gets bitten by a snake, and tragically, 1 in 147 of these individuals die of snakebite yearly. Traditionally, antivenoms for treatment are produced from horse or sheep but have complicated and expensive production issues. Alternative production approaches, such as using IgY antibodies derived from chicken egg yolks, may overcome disadvantages with traditional antivenom manufacturing techniques. In this current study, D. polylepis specific IgY polyclonal antibodies were purified from the egg yolks of chickens immunized with D. polylepis venom. These antibodies were subsequently assessed for their in-vivo neutralizing capacity vis-à-vis commercial antivenoms, PANAF-Premium and VINS. The IgY antibodies were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and affinity-chromatography, with quality and specificity determined by SDS-PAGE and ELISA. The LD50 of D. polylepis was found to be 0.54 mg/kg in chicks, and 0.34 mg/kg in mice, respectively. Pool of extracted IgY yielded 2.8 mg/mL concentration. Purified IgY under non-reducing and reducing conditions on SDS-PAGE exhibited a single-protein band of about 183 kDa and two bands (67 kDa and 25 kDa), respectively. The minimum-edematogenic dose was 0.05 µg. Anti-D. polylepis IgY antibodies and two antivenoms demonstrated the capacity to neutralize the toxic activities of D. polylepis venom. This study confirms a successful IgY generation against Black mamba venom for the first time, and observed toxic effects of the venom as well as neutralizing capacity of antivenoms.
RESUMO
Life-threatening medical issues can result from snakebite, and hence this is a public health concern. In many tropical and subtropical nations such as Kenya, where a wide variety of poisonous snakes are prevalent, diagnosis of snakebite in health facilities is imperative. Different antivenoms are needed to treat the venom of different snake species. Nonetheless, it might be difficult for medical professionals to identify the exact snake species that envenomated a patient due to the similarities of several snake envenomations' clinical symptoms. Therefore, the necessity for an assay or technique for identifying venomous species is critical. The current study sought to develop a sensitive ELISA prototype for the detection of D. polylepis venom in Kenya using generated chicken-based IgY polyclonal antibodies. Serum samples containing specific chicken-based IgY antibodies previously raised against D. polylepis venom toxins were used in the assay development. ELISA parameters were optimized, and the developed assay was assessed for applicability. The limit of detection (LoD) of the ELISA for neurotoxic venoms was determined to be 0.01 µg/mL. Successful discrimination between neurotoxic and cytotoxic venoms was achieved by the ensuing inhibition ELISA assay. The developed assay showed the capability of identifying venoms in blood samples (from spiked and venom-challenged blood samples) of BALB/c mice, providing compelling evidence of the strategy's usefulness. This assay could help physicians diagnose and manage victims of snakebites through the evaluation of clinical samples.