Geographical variation of Indian Russell’s viper venom and neutralization of its coagulopathy by polyvalent antivenom

Abstract

Indian Russell’s viper venoms of four different geographical locations were found to vary in composition, coagulopathy and phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂) activity. Venom from Kerala showed highest procoagulant activity followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka whereas PLA₂ activity was highest in venom from West Bengal. The commercial polyvalent antivenom differentially neutralized the aforesaid activities of the crude venoms. Antivenomics study showed the presence of non-immunodepleted and partially immunodepleted proteins in the crude venoms. Thus, Indian Russell’s viper venom from different region varies in composition and accentuates the need to design regiospecific antivenoms to confront the problem of envenomation more effectively.

• Antivenomics
• coagulopathy
• geographical variation
• Indian Russell’s viper
• in vitro neutralization

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by a grant to R.D. by DBT, Governmet of India under twinning programme to NER region. M.S. acknowledges DST for the INSPIRE Fellowship. Authors also acknowledge the grants to the department from DBT, UGC and DST, New Delhi.