Thai Russell's viper monospecific antivenom is immunoreactive and effective in neutralizing the venom of Daboia siamensis from Java, Indonesia

Proteomics and antivenom immunoprofiling of Russell’s viper (Daboia siamensis) venoms from Thailand and Indonesia

“…Immunoprofiling study revealed substantial conservation of antigenicity in the proteins of both D. siamensis venoms. DsMAV-Thailand was effective in immunorecognition of the protein fractions of the two venom samples, whereas SABU was virtually ineffective, consistent with the efficacy finding of the two antivenoms in neutralizing the toxicity of Indonesian D. siamensis venom [22]. Together, the findings support that a species-specific antivenom is required in Indonesia to treat Russell's viper envenomation.…”

“…Instead, the local community often uses the trivalent Indonesian antivenom (SABU) to treat Russell's viper envenoming. This practice has been reported anecdotally to be ineffective (Tri Maharani, personal communication), and it is supported by our recent study which showed that SABU failed to cross-neutralize the toxicity of Indonesian D. siamensis venom, whereas DsMAV-Thailand was highly effective in neutralizing the Thai as well as the Indonesian D. siamensis venoms in vitro and in vivo [22].…”

“…The low abundance of SVMP also implies that the venoms lack hemorrhagin proteins, unlike some Asiatic pit vipers whose venoms are known to cause intense dermal hemorrhage [29]. The significant presence of procoagulant SVSP and SVMP is consistent with the potent plasma-clotting effects and the absence of dermal hemorrhagic activity of both venoms from Ds-Thailand and Ds-Indonesia [22].…”

“…The plate was then flicked dry and rinsed four times with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.5% Tween 20 (PBST). The dilution of the antivenoms, DsMAV-Thai and SABU, was standardized at an optimum concentration (1:2700) [22] based on a working concentration of 20 mg/mL each. A hundred microliters of antivenom was added to each antigen-coated well, followed by incubation for 1 hour at room temperature.…”

“…This has led to the use of inappropriate, non-specific Indonesian antivenom, Serum Anti Bisa Ular (SABU, indicated for treatment of envenoming by the Javan spitting cobra, banded krait and Malayan pit viper) [20,21]. A recent study demonstrated that the procoagulant and lethal effects of D. siamensis from Indonesia (Ds-Indonesia) venom can be effectively neutralized by DsMAV-Thailand but, importantly, not SABU [22]. This implies that the venoms of D. siamensis from Thailand and Indonesia likely share a similar protein and antigenicity profile, despite the disjunctive geographical distribution between the two populations.…”