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Snake Venom Proteomics, Immunoreactivity and Toxicity Neutralization Studies for the Asiatic Mountain Pit Vipers, <i>Ovophis convictus</i>, <i>Ovophis tonkinensis</i>, and Hime Habu, <i>Ovophis okinavensis</i>
oleh: Choo Hock Tan, Praneetha Palasuberniam, Kae Yi Tan
| Format: | Article |
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| Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-07-01 |
Deskripsi
Snakebite envenomation is a serious neglected tropical disease, and its management is often complicated by the diversity of snake venoms. In Asia, pit vipers of the <i>Ovophis</i> species complex are medically important venomous snakes whose venom properties have not been investigated in depth. This study characterized the venom proteomes of <i>Ovophis convictus</i> (West Malaysia), <i>Ovophis tonkinensis</i> (northern Vietnam, southern China), and <i>Ovophis okinavensis</i> (Okinawa, Japan) by applying liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, which detected a high abundance of snake venom serine proteases (SVSP, constituting 40–60% of total venom proteins), followed by phospholipases A<sub>2</sub>, snake venom metalloproteinases of mainly P-III class, L-amino acid oxidases, and toxins from other protein families which were less abundant. The venoms exhibited different procoagulant activities in human plasma, with potency decreasing from <i>O. tonkinensis</i> > <i>O. okinavensis</i> > <i>O. convictus</i>. The procoagulant nature of venom confirms that consumptive coagulopathy underlies the pathophysiology of <i>Ovophis</i> pit viper envenomation. The hetero-specific antivenoms <i>Gloydius brevicaudus</i> monovalent antivenom (GbMAV) and <i>Trimeresurus albolabris</i> monovalent antivenom (TaMAV) were immunoreactive toward the venoms, and cross-neutralized their procoagulant activities, albeit at variably limited efficacy. In the absence of species-specific antivenom, these hetero-specific antivenoms may be useful in treating coagulotoxic envenomation caused by the different snakes in their respective regions.