Junaid Mahmood Alam, Syed Abid Ali, Naveen Faridi, Syed Mahmood Alam.
Myotoxic characteristics of Snake Venoms: Myonecrosis induced in Albino Rats by crude Venoms and the purified Myotoxic component, phospholipase A2.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;12(7):398-402.

Objective: To assess the myotoxic activity of venoms from terrestrial and marine snake species of our region in albino rats and to compare between myonecrotic activity of snake venom and purified component, a toxic phospholipase A2 enzyme, PLA2H1. Design: A prospective, comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: Departments of Chemical Pathology/Biochemistry and Histopathology at Liaquat National Postgraduate Medical Centre during November 2000 to April 2001. Material and Methods: To meet the objective, snake species of Naja naja naja, Vipera russelli russelli and Hydrophis cyanocintus were collected to obtain venoms and purification of phospholipase A2. Determination of the ability of venoms and phospholipases to induce myonecrosis and myoglobinuria was assesed on 170 albino rats by conducting enzyme analysis and histopathology for myonecrosis and myoglobinuria assay. Results: Sea snake venom induced moderate to high level of myonecrosis causing a release of 2400 to 2800 IU/L of CK at 12th hours after single dose. Similarly, the purified PLA2H1 induced intense myonecrosis and caused the release of 8000 IU/L of CK within 12 hours. The terrestrial venoms showed a moderate level of myonecrotic activity but sustained upto 48 hours after injection. Histopathology revealed variable degree of myonecrosis by all venoms characterized by necrosis, edematous appearance with cellular infiltrates, vacuolation and degenerated muscle cells. The muscle injected with sea venom and purified PLA2H1 showed delta lesion. Myoglobinuria was not observed in any group of animals. Conclusion: Snake venoms induce moderate to intense myonecrosis. In addition, their purified components, such as phospholipase A2 enzymes, are potent myonecrotic agents, and may play an important role in the clinical manifestation of snake poisoning.

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