Functional venomics of the Big-4 snakes of Pakistan

Abstract

In South Asia, the “Big-4” venomous snakes Naja naja, Bungarus caeruleus, Daboia russelii, and Echis carinatus are so-called because they are the most medically important snakes in the region. Antivenom is the only effective treatment option for snakebite envenoming but antivenom is not produced domestically in Pakistan making the country reliant on polyvalent products imported from India and Saudi Arabia. The present study investigated the toxin composition and activity of the venoms of Pakistani specimens by means of proteomic and physio/pharmacological experiments. To evaluate the composition of venoms, 1D/2D-PAGE of crude venoms and RP-HPLC followed by SDS-PAGE were performed. Enzymatic,..