Properties of biological and biochemical effects of the Iranian saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) venom.

Abstract

The venom of Echis carinatus is rich in proteins and peptides effective on the hemostatic system. This venom is contains metalloproteinase which convert prothrombin to meizothrombin. The prothrombin activator which leads to the formation of small blood clots inside the blood vessels throughout the body. To understand the mechanism of the effects of Iranian Echis carinatus venom, the effects of E. carinatus on human and Wistar rat plasma, plasma proteins (prothrombin and fibrinogen) and blood coagulation were studied. Proteolytic activity of the crude venom on blood coagulation factors such as prothrombin, partial thromboplastin and fibrinogen times were studied. In the present study the PT test for human plasma was reduced from 13.4 s (±0.59) to 8.6 s (±0.64) when human plasma was treated with crude venom (concentration of venom was 1 mg/ml) and for rat plasma PT was reduced from 14.5 s (±0.47) to 8 s (±0.49). Some possible biological and biochemical effects of IEc crude venom were investigated. The blood coagulation in human and in rat were investigated in vivo and in-vitro. In this paper, we show that the procoagulant action of Echis carinatus venom is due in part to a protein component that activates prothrombin and the procoagulant activity on human and rat plasma was evaluated (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 31).