A polyvalent coral snake antivenom with broad neutralization capacity

Abstract

Coral snakes of the genus Micrurus have a high diversity and wide distribution in the Americas. Despite envenomings by these animals being uncommon, accidents are often severe and may result in death. Producing an antivenom to treat these envenomings has been challenging since coral snakes are difficult to catch, produce small amounts of venom, and the antivenoms produced have shown limited cross neutralization. Here we present data of cross neutralization among monovalent antivenoms raised against M. dumerilii, M. isozonus, M. mipartitus and M. surinamensis and the development of a new polyvalent coral snake antivenom, resulting from the mix of monovalent antivenoms. Our results, show that this coral snake antivenom has high neutralizing potency and wide taxonomic coverage, constituting a possible alternative for a long sought Pan-American coral snake antivenom.

Deadly and venomous Lonomia caterpillars are more than the two usual suspects

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted September 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.06.506776 doi: bioRxiv preprint same antivenom was used [38], [19]. Thus, there is an opportunity for an integrated initiative leading to the design of treatment protocols in case of accidents with Lonomia, where species identification will be a must, and perhaps the production of a polyvalent treatment that can be used in different countries, as has been proposed for snakebite [39], [40].…”

“…For example, until 2020, accidents in Colombia with species of Lonomia other than L. achelous were successfully treated with the antivenom produced by the Butantan Institute against L. obliqua and in French Guiana the maximum recommended dose (10 vials) of the same antivenom was used [38],[19]. Thus, there is an opportunity for an integrated initiative leading to the design of treatment protocols in case of accidents with Lonomia , where species identification will be a must, and perhaps the production of a polyvalent treatment that can be used in different countries, as has been proposed for snakebite [39], [40].…”

First Insights into the Venom Composition of Two Ecuadorian Coral Snakes

“…Micrurus is a wide-ranging genus, found from the southern United States to northern Argentina [ 20 ]. The investigation of coral venoms has been mainly hampered by venom availability [ 21 ].…”

“…The investigation of coral venoms has been mainly hampered by venom availability [ 21 ]. Only 20% of Micrurus venoms worldwide have been analysed with proteomics approaches [ 22 ] due to the small quantities of venom that we can obtain from these specimens and the difficulties of their adjustment to captive conditions [ 20 ]. Curiously, these previous studies have pointed out that Micrurus venoms contain a variable amount of low-molecular weight toxins, predominantly phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) or three-finger toxins (3FTxs) [ 23 ].…”

Atividades farmacológicas e biológicas da peçonha de Micrurus surinamensis (cobra coral semi-aquática)

“…Apesar desta composição mais simples, a peçonha mostra alta potência letal em camundongos (via intraperitoneal) quando comparada com outras cobras corais [112], mesmo o camundongo não sendo a presa normal desta espécie. Em camundongos injetados pelas vias intraperitoneal e intracraniana, a peçonha produz efeitos neurotóxicos que culminam na morte por parada respiratória [113,115,117].…”