Preliminary studies on the venom of the Chinese snake Azemiops feae, Boulenger (Fea's viper).

Fea's viper (Azemiops feae) produces a venom which is highly toxic to mice when injected by the s.c. or i.v. routes. The i.v. LD50 of Azemiops venom for Swiss-Webster laboratory mice is 0.52 mg/kg. Azemiops venom produces no hemorrhagic activity in mice or rabbits. Immunodiffusion indicates that some fractions of Azemiops venom are antigenically related to viperid, elapid and crotalid venoms. SDS-PAGE electrophoresis reveals that this venom contains as many as 22 proteinaceous components.