A study on the venom of Bothrops alternatus Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, from different regions of Argentina.

We report a comparison of toxic and enzymatic activities of Bothrops alternatus venoms collected from specimens of different regions of Argentina with a pool of these same venoms. We determined lethal, hemorrhagic and pro-coagulant (plasma and fibrinogen) doses, as well as indirect hemolysis, hydrolysis of gelatin and fibrinogen. The electrophoretic pattern of the venoms and that of fibrinogen incubated with each of the venoms was studied by SDS-PAGE. The toxic activities were consistent with those reported for these venoms but with noticeable differences between samples which do not seem related to geographical or climatic characteristics. In some cases the pooled venom showed values close to the individual samples, but it was not representative since at least the half of the venoms (4/9) exhibited very different patterns of toxicity. The potency of some activities in the individual venoms ranged from much higher to much lower than those determined in the pooled venom (0.1 to 3 fold). Not all venoms exhibited thrombin-like activity but all hydrolyzed alpha and beta chains of fibrinogen; however, degradation patterns were not always similar. Variation in activities and toxicities do not seem to be related to geographical or climatic characteristics.