Venomics, lethality and neutralization of Naja kaouthia (monocled cobra) venoms from three different geographical regions of Southeast Asia

Venom and Purified Toxins of the Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja) from Pakistan: Insights into Toxicity and Antivenom Neutralization

“…However, geographical variations of snake venoms should not be disregarded, as ramifications have been demonstrated in the discrepancies of venom toxicity and therapeutic response to antivenom of a single geographical source. 2,18 This is particularly relevant in the case of cobra for two obvious reasons: first, cobra distributes widely in many parts of Pakistan and adapts well to human settlements, constituting a common cause of bites in the country; second, antivenom neutralization potency against cobra venom has been reported to be low, ostensibly due to the poor immunogenicity of small polypeptide toxins in the venom. 19 In view of these, this study was conducted to investigate the immunoneutralization profile of the Pakistani N. naja venom, using different cobra antivenoms available in the region.…”

“…The exact epidemiology and the global burden measure of snakebite envenomation, however, remains elusive due to the lack of reliable information on incidence, morbidity, and mortality. 1,2 Most figures available were obtained from fragmentary surveys conducted in limited regions, representing only a small fraction of the true epidemiology. 3 Persistent underreporting of the mortality and morbidity of snakebite envenomation earned it the most neglected status among the World Health Organization listed tropical neglected diseases/conditions.…”

“…These snakes although can be found in Pakistan, their venom profiles can vary geographically within the same species as demonstrated in several other venoms, attributed mainly to ecological factor. 2,[8][9][10] By the same token, the antigenicity of toxins can vary substantially too, thus limiting the efficacy of the imported antivenom against local species.…”

Cobra venom proteome and glycome determined from individual snakes of Naja atra reveal medically important dynamic range and systematic geographic variation

“…Recent progress on the understanding of geographical variations of snake venomics at the species and intra-species levels has indeed provided useful information for this purpose [7,8].…”

Toxin synergism in snake venoms

“…Combined, these toxins cause a synergistic potent toxic effect leading to flaccid paralysis and respiratory failure in victims and prey. In contrast to these examples, synergistic behaviour is not observed for the neurotoxic venom of Naja kaouthia (monocled cobra), which may be due to the fact that the α-neurotoxins dominating the venom all target the same receptor (Tan et al, 2015. Instead of causing synergistic action, the α-neurotoxins compete with each other for the target, causing additive, but not synergistic effects ( Figure 2E).…”