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Snake Envenomation
Published in Stephen M. Cohn, Peter Rhee, 50 Landmark Papers, 2019
The care for the wounds is relatively simple and includes cleaning, delayed debridement, prevention of secondary infection, and hygienic conservative wound care. Occasionally the edema can cause compartment syndrome. The wounds should not be incised or sucked, and tourniquets are ill-advised. The majority of snakebites nationwide occur in men on their lower and upper extremity. The threat of loss of tissue and limb function, and ambiguity over the type of snake that might have caused the envenomation, has resulted in a substantial demand for antivenom. The venom can cause local symptoms of pain, redness, and blistering. Systemic symptoms of feeling faint, fear, lightheadedness, tachycardia, nausea, and vomiting have all been reported. Systemic problems of anaphylaxis, coagulopathy, renal failure, respiratory failure, and death are uncommon but have occurred.
Stings
Published in Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard, The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition, 2019
Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard
As discussed in the first chapter, stings by venomous arthropods can produce direct effects in humans by the toxic action of the venom alone or indirect effects due to allergic reactions (Table 3.1). Direct toxic effects are very rare but may include cerebral infarction, neuropathies (even optic), and seizures.1–3 In addition, secondary infection may arise from stings, especially if the lesion is scratched (Figure 3.1). The direct effects of a sting can be mild such as pain, itching, wheal, flare, etc., or serious when numerous stings are received and the large amount of venom injected produces toxic effects. Small children are at a higher risk of developing severe toxicity because of their smaller body weight. One account of a toxic reaction in a child from massive hornet stings described clinical features such as coma, respiratory failure, coagulopathy, renal failure, and liver dysfunction. But, for most individuals, the risk of a severe reaction resulting from either a toxic or allergic mechanism is quite low. Lightning claims more lives annually in the United States than stinging arthropods,2 and adverse reactions to penicillin kill seven times as many.3
Centipede Envenomation Effects on Human Beings and Scientific Research on Traditional Antivenom Agents
Published in Parimelazhagan Thangaraj, Medicinal Plants, 2018
Dhivya Sivaraj, Revathi Ponnusamy, Rahul Chandran, Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
In general, the invention of antivenomic active principles from plant sources are based on in vitro assays, like procoagulant, PLA2 and metalloprotease inhibition, proteolytic, fibrinolytic, defibrinogenolytic, haemolytic, inhibition of edema, inhibition of adenosine diphosphate, inhibition of induced platelet aggregation (Gutierrez 2009). Immunoassays correlate with the neutralization of lethality (Maria et al. 2001; Rial et al. 2006; Theakston and Reid 1979). The preclinical evaluation of antivenom engages with experimental animals, mostly with mice and rats. In view of this fact, venom that induces pain and other effects in these animals could be used in the evaluation of antivenom. Pharmacological studies have revealed that the extracts and fractions of some plants used in traditional medicine are able to antagonise the activity of various crude venoms and purified toxins (Biondo et al. 2003, 2004; Borges et al. 2000, 2001; da Silva et al. 2005; Januário et al. 2004; Maiorano et al. 2005; Oliveira et al. 2005; Otero et al. 2000; Ticli et al. 2005).
A systematic review of the bioprospecting potential of Lonomia spp. (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2023
Henrique G. Riva, Angela R. Amarillo-S.
On the other hand, the only lonomic antivenom production technique that was found in this review was the purification of immunized horse serum (Da Silva 2003). However, several other techniques have been described for the production of antivenom to treat accidents with other venomous animals, such as the production of antibodies derived from chicken eggs against coral snake venom (Aguilar et al.2014); the use of sheep instead of horses to manufacture crotalid antivenom (against rattlesnake venom) (Ferreira Junior et al.2010); and the recombinant production of specific antibodies, eliminating the need to immunize animals (Alvarenga et al.2014). Therefore, further research with different animal models and production techniques would help to achieve a model of production that could be less expensive or be beneficial from the perspective of animal welfare (Araújo et al.2010, Liu et al.2017).
In vitro discovery of a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes lethality of cobra snake venom
Published in mAbs, 2022
Line Ledsgaard, Andreas H. Laustsen, Urska Pus, Jack Wade, Pedro Villar, Kim Boddum, Peter Slavny, Edward W. Masters, Ana S. Arias, Saioa Oscoz, Daniel T. Griffiths, Alice M. Luther, Majken Lindholm, Rachael A. Leah, Marie Sofie Møller, Hanif Ali, John McCafferty, Bruno Lomonte, José M. Gutiérrez, Aneesh Karatt-Vellatt
Each year, the lack of access to affordable and effective treatment against snakebite envenoming leaves thousands of victims in despair, as revealed by the estimated number of 81,000 to 138,000 fatalities and the consequent social and economic impact in families and communities.1 Animal-derived antivenoms remain the cornerstone of snakebite envenoming therapy1 and are still produced by immunizing large mammals, usually horses, with snake venom, followed by the purification of antibodies from the blood plasma, resulting in polyclonal antibody preparations.9 Being heterologous products, animal-derived antivenoms often lead to a range of adverse reactions whose incidence varies depending on the product.10 Furthermore, it is estimated that only a fraction of the antibodies in current antivenoms contribute to neutralization of relevant toxins. Large amounts of antivenom are therefore required to treat a snakebite case, resulting in heterologous protein loads as high as 15 g per treatment in severe envenoming cases.11,12 Moreover, a discrepancy exists between the toxicity (high) and the immunogenicity (low) of these toxins, where antivenoms raised in animals have a sub-optimal concentration of therapeutic antibodies against low molecular weight elapid neurotoxins with high toxicity scores.13–16 Despite many advances within antibody technology and biotechnology, a need remains for antivenoms with improved safety and efficacy.17,18
In vivo genotoxic and cytotoxic evaluation of venom obtained from the species of the snake ophryacus, cope, viperidae
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Mariel Valdés-Arellanes, Gerardo Ortega-Hernández, Doralí M. Cervantes-Santos, Michael Joshue Rendón-Barrón, Eduardo Osiris Madrigal-Santillán, José Antonio Morales-González, Rogelio Paniagua-Pérez, Eduardo Madrigal-Bujaidar, Isela Álvarez-González
The venom is mainly used by the serpent to facilitate the immobilization and digestion of the prey, as well as for defense against threats. However, it is also the cause of moderate to severe damage in humans subjected to poisonings. The effect of a bite may be of local relevance, affecting the muscle and surrounding tissue, where it can induce inflammation, edema or necrosis or it can have systemic effects such as coagulopathy, renal insufficiency or neurotoxicity (Del Brutto and Del Brutto 2012, Bruserud 2013). Although in many countries, there is no precise information about the incidence of this type of accident, it has been suggested that they represent up to 100 000 deaths annually (White 2010). The study of snake venom, however, has other interesting implications; for example, studies on its chemical composition and biological effect have been useful for anti-venom development, besides, knowledge about its molecular union to specific ligands of the prey have been useful to characterize specific receptors; moreover, at a preclinical and clinical level, the whole snake venom or its specific constituents has been relevant for the diagnosis and therapy of health problems such as pain, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, microbial infections, hypertension, wound-healing, and cancer (Theakston and Laing 2014, Samy et al. 2016, Chan et al. 2016, Almeida et al. 2017, Uzair et al. 2018).