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Abstract

ABSTRACT:Snakebite is an important cause of morbidity and mortality and is one of the major health problems in India. Russell"s viper (Daboia russelli) appears to be the commonest cause of fatal snakebite in many Asian countries and especially in the Indian subcontinent. Intravenous administration of anti venom serum neutralizes the systemic actions, but it is of little effect on the reversal of local symptoms and often induces adverse reactions, a context that drives the search for complementary treatments for snakebite accidents. Plant extracts with a range of antiophidian activities constitute an excellent alternative. The methanolic extracts of seeds of Pongamia pinnata, fruits of Piper longum and Sapindus laurifolius and leaves of Adhatoda zeylanica were tested for the snake venom neutralizing capacity using in vitro methods. The venom of Daboia russelii (Russell"s viper) was used to evaluate the antivenom activity of these extracts individually and in combinations. The parameters assessed were the neutralization of procoagulant activity, proteolytic activity and phospholipase A2 activity. All the extracts studied exhibited significant activity in neutralizing the venom effects and among the four extracts tested Pongamia pinnata showed superior activity followed by Piper longum. The present study suggests the effectiveness of the above extracts in the treatment of snake bite and also supports the use of herbal extracts by tribal and Vaidya"s.

A Contemporary Exploration of Traditional Indian Snake Envenomation Therapies

“…As it has been established in modern literature that ingredients such as black pepper, long pepper or ginger are used to improve the bioavailability of the principle content of the formulation [40,41], similar ingredients are used in the traditional formulations, as well. Additionally, some of the additives are proven to have pharmacological effects [42][43][44].…”

“…Roots [190] Roots, Fruits [191,192] Fruits [18] Fruits ˆ [118] Ethanolic extract of Piper longum fruits inhibited Russell's viper venom-induced defibrinogenation, haemorrhage, inflammation, and lethality and proved to be a good antisnake venom [42]. Methanolic extract of Piper longum fruit neutralized procoagulant, proteolytic activity and phospholipase A2 from Daboia russelii venom when tested in vitro [44].…”

“…Leaves, Stem bark [216] Fruits [217] Methanolic extract of Sapindus laurifolius fruit neutralized procoagulant, proteolytic activity and phospholipase A2 from Daboia russelii venom when tested in vitro [44].…”

“…Various researchers have used in vivo, in vitro, and in silico methods or their combination to assess the neutralization of snake venoms by plants. The most references are available for Naja naja venom [64,74,94,96,108,173,203,212,226], followed by Daboia russelii venom [42,44,77,104,106,107,109,110,144,145,156,173]. Both these snake species are perfect representatives of their families Elapidae and Viperidae, respectively, and are the most occurring venomous snake species in the Indian subcontinent.…”