Abstract
Medically relevant cases of snakebite in Europe are predominately caused by European vipers of the genus Vipera. Systemic envenoming by European vipers can cause severe pathology in humans and different clinical manifestations are associated with different members of this genus. The most representative vipers in Europe are V. aspis and V. berus and neurological symptoms have been reported in humans envenomed by the former but not by the latter species. In this study we determined the toxicological profile of V. aspis and V. berus venoms in vivo in mice and we tested the effectiveness of two antivenoms, commonly used as antidotes, in counteracting the specific activities of the two venoms. We found that V. aspis, but not V. berus, is neurotoxic and that this effect is due to the degeneration of peripheral nerve terminals at the NMJ and is not neutralized by the two tested antisera. Differently, V. berus causes a haemorrhagic effect, which is efficiently contrasted by the same antivenoms. These results indicate that the effectiveness of different antisera is strongly influenced by the variable composition of the venoms and reinforce the arguments supporting the use polyvalent antivenoms.
Highlights
Each year, hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide are affected by snakebite envenomation
V. aspis and V. berus venoms contain enzymatically active A2 phospholipases but only that one of V. aspis is neurotoxic
Since the neurological symptoms caused by V. aspis envenomation are believed to be due to the presence of a neurotoxic PLA2, we investigated whether this venom induces the typical “bulging effect” exerted by SPANs on cultured neurons
Summary
Hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide are affected by snakebite envenomation. Against the viper’s venoms of a specific area, which often display highly heterogeneous compositions and cause variable clinical symptoms[5,6,7]. This limitation is relevant considering the neurotoxic effects exerted by some species. PLA2s have been detected in V. berus venoms[7,9,10], there is general consensus in considering this adder as not neurotoxic[11] This suggests that the PLA2s within V. ammodytes, V. aspis and V. berus venoms are functionally and possibly antigenically different and may be variably susceptible to neutralization by available antisera.
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