Crotamine in Crotalus durissus: distribution according to subspecies and geographic origin, in captivity or nature

Abstract

Background: Crotalus durissus is considered one of the most important species of venomous snakes in Brazil, due to the high mortality of its snakebites. The venom of Crotalus durissus contains four main toxins: crotoxin, convulxin, gyroxin and crotamine. Venoms can vary in their crotamine content, being crotamine-negative or-positive. This heterogeneity is of great importance for producing antivenom, due to their different mechanisms of action. The possibility that antivenom produced by Butantan Institute might have a different immunorecognition capacity between crotamine-negative and crotamine-positive C. durissus venoms instigated us to investigate the differences between these two venom groups. Methods: The presence of crotamine was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, western blotting and ELISA, whereas comparison between the two types of venoms was carried out through HPLC, mass spectrometry analysis as well as assessment of antivenom lethality and efficacy. Results: The results showed a variation in the presence of crotamine among the subspecies and the geographic origin of snakes from nature, but not in captive snakes. Regarding differences between crotamine-positive and-negative venoms, some exclusive proteins are found in each pool and the crotamine-negative pool presented more phospholipase A 2 than crotamine-positive pool. This variation could affect the time to death, but the lethal and effective dose were not affected. Conclusion: These differences between venom pools indicate the importance of using both, crotamine-positive and crotamine-negative venoms, to produce the antivenom.

Venom complexity of Bothrops atrox (common lancehead) siblings

“…Differences in the composition and activity of snake venoms from the same species are a worldwide researchers concern. These differences can influence directly in the antivenom production and in the success of patient treatment [54][55][56][57].…”

Cell-Penetrating Peptides Derived from Animal Venoms and Toxins

“…Crotamine, the first snake venom peptide known to selectively penetrate eukaryotic cells, is a 42-residue cationic peptide purified from the venom of certain populations of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus and other subspecies of C. durissus [ 125 , 126 , 127 ]. Pharmacologically, at the molecular level, crotamine is essentially a neurotoxin that exerts its effect at nanomolar concentrations on voltage-dependent Na + and K + ion channels of different types of muscle cells [ 128 , 129 ].…”

Nanobiotechnology with Therapeutically Relevant Macromolecules from Animal Venoms: Venoms, Toxins, and Antimicrobial Peptides

“…In recent years, the macromolecules of animal venoms have been reported to have outstanding effects, such as antivenom, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties, among others [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. However, this potential and activity are often limited by the different factors of the biological environment to which they are exposed, and many times these macromolecules lose activity or diminish their effect.…”