Snake Venom Detection Kit (SVDK): Update on Current Aspects and Challenges

Abstract

Snakebite is a medical emergency causing considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in the tropics. Snake venom components are known to vary greatly leading to varied clinical manifestations following snakebite. The success of antivenom therapy, which is the mainstay of therapy, usually depends on the snake species involved, and uncertainties concerning the species involved remain a major hurdle in effective management of snakebite. Therefore, proper identification of snake species is of prime importance, consequently leading to the development of the SnakeVenomDiagnostic Kit(SVDK).Over theyears, variousdetectionstestshavebeendeveloped, with the immunological-reaction-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method being the most widely used. However, in recent times various other techniques, such as optical immunoassays (OIA), venom/antibody microarray assay, PCR based assays, etc., are also being developed with much more promise in real-time applications. Furthermore, the tests tend to be highly species-specific, reliable, sensitive, rapid, inexpensive, stable, simple, and portable for field use. It is desirable that each country develops and optimizes its own regional species-specific diagnosis kits for effective management of snakebite. Considering doubts in the commercial viability of developing SVDK, more public/private partnerships have to be developed and nurtured. This work attempts to summarize existing techniques of snake venom detection in current use, especially their advantages and disadvantages. It also focuses on recent developments and discusses the present challenges to the development and application of SVDK for successful clinical usage in the future.