Kaur Navneet, Iyer Ashwin, Sunagar Kartik
Evolutionary Venomics Lab, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Evolutionary Venomics Lab, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Correspondence to: Dr Kartik Sunagar, Evolutionary Venomics Lab, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Bengaluru 560 012, Karnataka, India.
Indian Pediatr. 2021 Mar 15;58(3):219-223.
Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease that inflicts severe socioeconomic burden on developing countries by primarily affecting their rural agrarian populations. India is a major snakebite hotspot in the world, as it accounts for more than 58,000 annual snakebite mortalities and over three times that number of morbidities. The only available treatment for snakebite is a commercially marketed polyvalent antivenom, which is manufactured exclusively against the 'big four' Indian snakes. In this review, we highlight the influence of ecology and evolution in driving inter- and intra-specific venom variations in snakes. We describe the repercussions of this molecular variation on the effectiveness of the current generation Indian antivenoms in mitigating snakebite pathologies. We highlight the disturbing deficiencies of the conventional animal-derived antivenoms, and review next-generation recombinant antivenoms and other promising therapies for the efficacious treatment of this disease.
蛇咬伤是一种被忽视的热带病，主要影响发展中国家的农村农业人口，给这些国家带来了沉重的社会经济负担。印度是世界上主要的蛇咬伤热点地区，每年有超过58000人死于蛇咬伤，发病人数是死亡人数的三倍多。目前唯一可用于治疗蛇咬伤的是一种商业销售的多价抗蛇毒血清，它专门针对印度的“四大”毒蛇制造。在这篇综述中，我们强调了生态和进化对蛇种间和种内毒液变异的影响。我们描述了这种分子变异对当前一代印度抗蛇毒血清减轻蛇咬伤病理症状有效性的影响。我们强调了传统动物源抗蛇毒血清令人不安的缺陷，并综述了下一代重组抗蛇毒血清和其他有望有效治疗这种疾病的疗法。
