Recognizing Antiophidian Plants Using the Neuromuscular Junction Apparatus

The snake accidents are a relevant issue due the number of victims affected worldwide and the severe clinical condition that the venom develops. In fact, the World Health Organization added snakebite to the list of Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2009 [1]. Harrison et al. [2] described the accidents as a disease of poverty, since the most affected people usually live in poor rural communities with few or no medical resources. Paradoxically, contrarily to other diseases, a highly effective treatment already exists, and corresponds to the timely administration of a specific antiserum [2]. However, in the latest years, the production of antisera has declined by the public-sector manufacturers or by some private producers, as appointed by The Lancet’s editorial [3. Plants are an important source of drugs [4]. The literature is vast in the study of antiophidian plants such as those against lethal and myotoxic effects [5-9], phospholipase A2 [10-12] or hemorrhagic activities, antinucleolytic or other antiophidian properties as seen with Pentaclethra macroloba [13,14].