Biological Evaluation of Promising Substances Group, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia.
Histopathology Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cartagena, 130015 Cartagena, Colombia.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2017 May;89:1105-1114. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2017.02.080. Epub 2017 Mar 11.
In Colombia, Bothrops asper is responsible for 70-90% of ophidians accidents reported annually. Envenoming occurs mainly in rural areas where both antivenom and health centers are scarce. Thus, patients are frequently treated by local healers that employ medicinal herbs; including several species belonging to Dracontium genus. In this work, we evaluated the neutralizing activity of Dracontium dubium Kunth against the lethal, inflammatory, coagulant and hemolytic effects produced by B. asper venom. Mice treated with D. dubium extract (500 and 1000μg/g, ip), survived to the administration of lethal doses of venom, with remarkable recovery of macroscopic and histology damage. Furthermore, D. dubium exerted a significant inhibition of inflammatory damage promoted by paw injection of B. asper venom. Such activity might be related to the inhibition of macrophage activation and NO production, as demonstrated using LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Moreover, the extract of D. dubium remarkably diminished the indirect hemolytic effect of snake venom. On the other hand, no substantial differences were observed in clotting time of plasma incubated with venom when compared to extract treated plasma. Noteworthy, D. dubium extract did not alter the electrophoretic pattern of venom before the assays. Phytochemistry screening revealed the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins and steroids/triterpenoids, which might explain the bioactivity of the extract. Our results, provides strong evidence that support the employment of D. dubium in folk medicine. Further studies are needed to isolate and identify the metabolites responsible for the activity, in order to provide a useful and accessible treatment for snakebite envenoming in low-income rural areas.
在哥伦比亚，矛头蝮属的蛇类每年造成 70-90%的蛇伤报告。这些咬伤主要发生在农村地区，那里抗蛇毒血清和医疗中心都很稀缺。因此，患者经常由当地治疗师治疗，他们使用草药；包括几种属于 Dracontium 属的物种。在这项工作中，我们评估了 Dracontium dubium Kunth 对矛头蝮蛇毒的致死、炎症、凝血和溶血作用的中和活性。用 D. dubium 提取物（500 和 1000μg/g，ip）治疗的小鼠能够耐受致命剂量的毒液，并且宏观和组织学损伤得到了显著恢复。此外，D. dubium 对由矛头蝮蛇毒液注射到爪子引起的炎症损伤表现出显著的抑制作用。这种活性可能与巨噬细胞激活和 NO 产生的抑制有关，这在 LPS 刺激的 RAW 264.7 细胞中得到了证明。此外，D. dubium 提取物显著减少了蛇毒的间接溶血作用。另一方面，与用提取物处理的血浆相比，与蛇毒孵育的血浆的凝血时间没有明显差异。值得注意的是，D. dubium 提取物在进行测定之前不会改变毒液的电泳图谱。植物化学筛选显示存在酚类化合物、类黄酮、单宁和类固醇/三萜类化合物，这可能解释了提取物的生物活性。我们的结果为支持在民间医学中使用 D. dubium 提供了强有力的证据。需要进一步的研究来分离和鉴定负责这些活性的代谢物，以便为低收入农村地区的蛇咬伤中毒提供一种有用且可及的治疗方法。
