CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ANTICOAGULANT AGENT IN THE VENOM OF IRANIAN COBRA (NAJA NAJA OXIANA).

Snake venoms contain a rich variety of factors which affect blood coagulation. There have been few reports on the anticoagulant activity of the venom of different cobras, but no such observations have been made on the Iranian cobra, although a procoagulant factor has been described. In this study an anticoagulant factor has been purified from the venom of Naja naja oxiana using gel filtration followed by isopycnic ultracentrifugation with 30% KBr. The factor was a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 45.36 kDa and increased plasma recalcification time by 224 sec which was 7.7 times greater than the activity of crude venom.