Evaluation of venom diversity and antivenom quality from the venom of long-term captive vs recently wild captured Pseudocerastes persicus snake: An In vitro and In vivo study

Snakebite envenomation is a life-threatening condition and antivenoms are used as the most effective treatment. Venom obtained from snakes in long-term captivity showed some variations in comparison to the venom of the wild snakes. The objective of this study is to compare the venom of the Pseudocerastes persicus under long-term captivity and wild conditions as well as the antivenom obtained from these venoms. We have analyzed venom samples and produced trivalent antivenoms using the venom of long-term captive (LTC) or recently wild-captured (RWC) Pseudocerastes persicus, and RWC Macrovipera lebetina, and Echis carinatus. The HPLC analysis revealed that the RWC snakes' venom had three peaks that were not present in the LTC snake's venom. Further analysis using MALDI-TOF and MS/MS showed that the fraction with a retention time (RT) of 14 min contained a toxin from the Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor (KUT) class, while the fraction with RT 21 a peptide identified within the snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMP) class. The third peak was identified as a sphingolipid. Interestingly, the in vivo preclinical tests showed no significant differences in the effectiveness of the antivenoms. which could be due to the cross-immunogenicity or cross-reactivity between different toxins in the venom. According to our results, small variations in the venom composition of a species do not lead to a decrease in the efficacy of the polyvalent antivenom.