Department of Public Health, Pharmacology, and Toxicology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya.
BMC Res Notes. 2020 Jul 6;13(1):325. doi: 10.1186/s13104-020-05167-2.
Naja ashei is a snake of medical importance in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, and Tanzania. Little is known about the enzymatic (snake venom phospholipases A; svPLA's) and toxic (lethal) activities of N. ashei venom and crucially, the safety and capacity of available antivenom to neutralize these effects. This study aimed to determine the enzymatic and toxic activities of N. ashei venom and the capacity of Indian and Mexican manufactured antivenoms to neutralize these effects. The protein content of the venom and the test antivenoms were also evaluated. A 12-point log concentration-response curve (0.5-22.5 µg/mL) was generated on an agarose-egg yolk model to predict the svPLA activity of the venom. The toxicity profiles of the venom and antivenoms were evaluated in the brine shrimp lethality assay. Lowry's method was used for protein estimation.
Low and intermediate concentrations of the venom exhibited similar svPLA activities. The same was true for concentrations > 15 µg/mL. Intermediate and high doses of the venom exhibited similar mortalities in brine shrimp and test antivenoms were generally non-toxic but poorly neutralized svPLA activity. Mexican manufactured antivenom had lower protein content but neutralized venom-induced brine shrimp lethality much more effectively than Indian manufactured antivenom.
阿氏矛头蝮是肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚、索马里、乌干达和坦桑尼亚具有医学重要性的蛇类。关于阿氏矛头蝮毒液的酶（蛇毒磷脂酶 A；svPLA's）和毒性（致死）活性知之甚少，至关重要的是，现有的抗蛇毒血清中和这些效应的安全性和能力也知之甚少。本研究旨在确定阿氏矛头蝮毒液的酶和毒性活性，以及印度和墨西哥制造的抗蛇毒血清中和这些效应的能力。还评估了毒液和测试抗蛇毒血清的蛋白质含量。在琼脂糖-蛋黄模型上生成 12 点对数浓度反应曲线（0.5-22.5μg/mL），以预测毒液的 svPLA 活性。在卤虫致死性测定中评估毒液和抗蛇毒血清的毒性谱。Lowry 法用于蛋白质估计。
毒液的低浓度和中浓度表现出相似的 svPLA 活性。在浓度>15μg/mL 时也是如此。毒液的中浓度和高浓度在卤虫中表现出相似的死亡率，测试抗蛇毒血清通常是无毒的，但对 svPLA 活性的中和作用很差。墨西哥制造的抗蛇毒血清的蛋白质含量较低，但比印度制造的抗蛇毒血清更有效地中和毒液引起的卤虫致死性。
