On the Stability of Desiccated Snake Venoms
Open Access
- 1 October 1951
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Immunology
- Vol. 67 (4) , 299-304
- https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.67.4.299
Abstract
Summary: The toxic potencies of desiccated snake venoms were tested over a period of up to 13 years. It was found that the non-hemorrhagic, so-called neurotoxic venoms had lost little or nothing of their original toxicity in 8 to 9 years of storage in cork stoppered glass tubes in the dark. Hemorrhagic venoms kept under the same conditions had lost 41 to 56% of their power in 9 years and 84% in 13 years (Vipera) and 78 (Bitis) and only 14 (Agkistrodon)% in 8 years. When stored in a frequently opened and re-evacuated desiccator, Agkistrodon venoms lost approximately 70% of activity within one year. Under similar conditions, lyophilized neurotoxic Crotalus venom lost about one third of its original toxic potency in a couple of months whereas its antibody-binding capacity decreased less markedly, if at all. The significance of these observations is discussed.Keywords
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