Plants and Phytocompounds Active Against Bothrops Venoms

Abstract

: Snakebite envenomation is an important health problem in tropical countries, with severe human and social consequences. In Latin America, the Bothrops species constitute the main threat to humans, and the envenomation caused by these species quickly develops into severe local tissue damage, including swelling, hemorrhaging, myonecrosis, skin ulceration, and pain. The systemic effects of envenomation are usually neutralized by antivenom serum therapy, despite its intrinsic risks. However, neutralization of local tissue damage remains a challenge. To improve actual therapy, two major alternatives are proposed: the rational design of new specific antibodies for most of the tissue damaging/ poor immunogenic toxins, or the search for new synthetic or natural compounds which are able to inhibit these toxins and complement the serum therapy. Natural compounds isolated from plants, mainly from those used in folk medicine to treat snakebite, are a good choice for finding new lead compounds to improve snakebite treatment and minimize its consequences for the victims. In this article, we reviewed the most promising plants and phytocompounds active against bothropic venoms.

Evaluation of the immunomodulatory effect of Bougainvillea xbuttiana(Var. Orange) on the cytokine production induced by Botrhops jararacavenom in macrophages

“…In this study, B. xbuttiana Orange was able to reduce proteolytic activity and PLA2. Distinct studies have shown that bioactive compounds from plants have significant inhibitory properties against snake venom enzymatic toxins such as PLA2 and hyaluronidases (Santhosh et al, 2013;Jorge et al, 2019). However, these compounds may be responsible for inhibition of toxins present in snake venom, acting directly as enzymatic inhibitors and chemical inactivators, or indirectly as immunomodulators, by interacting with biological targets (Santhosh et al, 2013;Jorge et al, 2019).…”

“…There are many investigations reporting the use of plants with antiophidic properties. A considerable number of studies have described immunomodulatory properties in various medicinal plants (Jorge et al, 2019). Some plants are able to inhibit both cellular and humoral responses, while others are capable of stimulating the immune response.…”

“…Among plants used globally in medicine, several species have verified anti-snake venom Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas / 201 activity, shielding people and animals towards snakebite (Riera-Borrull et al, 2017;Jorge et al, 2019;Resiere et al, 2020). Several compounds, such as different flavonoids with anti-inflammatory activity, had been discovered in large quantities in one-of-a-kind plants (Veronese et al, 2005;Arteaga Figueroa et al, 2017;Jorge et al, 2019). For toxicity provoked by the Bothrops genus, the handiest tolerable treatment is application of specific antivenom.…”

“…Neutralizing local damage is a difficult task. For some cases of snakebite, lack of neutralization of the local effect precedes perpetual sequelae (Wen, 2000;Jorge et al, 2019, Pinto et al, 2019. However, to deal with these effects, new pharmacological techniques have to be introduced to relieve the consequences of Bothrops envenomation.…”

Ethnopharmacological and botanical evaluation of medicinal plants used by Brazilian Amazon Indian community

“…Beatriz Cardoso Roriz; Gabriela Ramos Cerqueira; Susana Elisa Moreno study conducted with the Malvaceae family, the leaves of the species Abutilon theophrasti have compounds with anti-inflammatory action. Since in the snakebite accident, especially caused by Bothrops snakes, responsible for most cases of poisoning, the inflammatory response is responsible for the damage caused by the poison (JORGE et al, 2019).…”