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 En
| LILACS
| ID: lil-303724
Responsible library:
BR33.1
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:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
LILACS
Main subject:
Brazil
/
Chickens
/
Bothrops
/
Crotalid Venoms
/
Myotonia
/
Nervous System
/
Neurotoxins
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Language:
En
Journal:
J. venom. anim. toxins
Journal subject:
TOXICOLOGIA
Year:
2002
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: