Ontogenetic study of the venom of Bothrops alternatus snakes and analysis of phospholipase A2 inhibitors as a complementary therapy to serum therapy in bothropic accidents

Abstract

Snakebites are considered neglected tropical diseases by the World Health Organization. The study of snake venoms is an important area of biomedical research, mainly due to its neurotoxic, hemorrhagic and proteolytic actions. The genus Bothrops is the main responsible for envenoming in Brazil and the venom of species of this genus is mainly characterized by presenting the following activities: proteolytic, coagulant and hemorrhagic. Snake venoms are subject to intraspecific variations related to several factors, including ontogeny and sex. Thus, intense studies have been carried out in an attempt to elucidate these aspects in venoms of several snake species, but studies are lacking in relation to some species such as B. alternatus, which are snakes, in general, of large size and that have specialized food in small mammals. From a clinical point of view, it is important to consider variations in the composition of venoms that will result in differences in their action and, consequently, in the effectiveness of the antivenom. With regard to snakes of the genus Bothrops, the treatment of envenoming is done with the parenteral administration of Antibothropic Serum which, in general, is effective against systemic effects, but does not efficiently neutralize local damage. Thus, the interest of the scientific community in seeking new inhibitors as a complement to serum therapy is growing. Our group has already characterized two phospholipase A2 inhibitors from the sera of two snakes, Boa constrictor and B. jararaca. Thus, the present study aims to elucidate the roles of ontogeny and sex of B. alternatus snakes in the composition and activities of the venom of these animals, using proteomic approaches, and the inhibitory potential of two phospholipase inhibitors from the serum of two species of snakes. (AU)