Exploring The Biochemical, Haemostatic And Toxinological Aspects Of Mapanare Dry-Tail (Porthidium Lansbergii Rozei) Snake'S Venom Causing Human Accidents In Eastern Venezuela

Porthidium lansbergii rozei (P.l.rozei) is a snake species belonging to the Venezuelan ophidian-fauna causing relatively frequent human accidents. This study has been developed to enrich the medical information about this snake's accident, which is often handled with difficulties due to the ignorance about its toxic activities. This work has studied the biochemical and toxinological characteristics of the P.l.rozei venom. The objective was to determine its biochemical characteristics, including protein content determination, electrophoretic and P.l.rozei chromatographic profile. The toxinological and enzymatic functions, comprised lethality (LD50), haemorrhagic (MHD), myotoxic, coagulant, oedematising, proteolytic, fibrinogenolytic, fibrinolytic, anticoagulant, and phospholipase activities and crude venom recognition by the Venezuelan polyvalent antivenom (PAOS). The venom induced haemorrhagic, myotoxic, anticoagulant, fibrinolytic, fibrinogenolytic, and phospholipase A(2) activities in mice; the LD50 was not established even though the doses tested expand the different lethal doses reported in previous studies. The venom induced a dose-dependent oedema up to the dose of 4 mu g, corresponding to 27.91%. In conclusion, the studied venom presented a haemostatic, toxinological, and enzymatic biochemical profile similar to the one described for specimens of the Porthidium genus. However, there were evident quantitative variations in their different activities, offering new evidence of the intra-species variations that exists in the different snake families. These variations must be accounted for appropriate clinical management.