INTRODUCTION Bites by the European adder, Vipera berus, may cause significant morbidity in bite victims, but this can be reduced through adequate treatment. Since the previous Danish study, a new treatment and a severity grading has been taken into use. The aims of this study were to review clinical cases after a bite from V. berus in The North Denmark Region and to evaluate the treatment given...

The results of our comparative analysis parameters the leukocyte blood system underyearlings and mature specimens common viper Vipera berus are presented. material was 36 females 26 males caught in Middle Volga basin, 13 born captivity from 4 this sample. V. b. differed: by a lower content heterophils azurophils, an increased eosinophils basophils, increase shift index, decrease lymphocytic–gra...

Cytogenetic studies were carried out on four species of Indian snakes viz Eryx conicus (Family Boidae), Naja naja naja (Family Elapidae), Vipera russelli and Echis carinatus (Family Viperidae) collected from Jammu region (J&K). Both E. conicus and N. n. naja show deviation from typical ophidian karyotype (2n=36), having 2n=34 (16 macroand 18 microchromosomes, NF=42) in E. conicus and 2n=38 (16 ...

Changes to our understanding of venomous snake systematics, and the consequent changes in the nomenclature of these animals, have traditionally been a great source of confusion among biomedical researchers. This paper aims to facilitate access to the taxonomic literature by presenting a synopsis of the changes in venomous snake systematics that have taken place recently (primarily since 1992), ...

A quantitative study has been made of the effects of nerve growth factor (NGF), isolated from the venom of Vipera russelli, on the growth of dispersed cells from the sensory ganglia of the embryonic chick. The main effects were to increase the viability of the sensory neurons in culture and to promote the regeneration of nerve fibres. In the presence of NGF a higher proportion of neurons produc...

We report the cloning and sequence analysis of Cerastes vipera and Macrovipera lebetina transmediterranea cDNAs coding for short non-RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) disintegrins and for dimeric disintegrin subunits. The mRNAs belong to the short-coding class, suggesting that these disintegrin mRNAs may be more widely distributed than previously thought. Our data also argue for a common ancestry of the mRNAs ...

A review of published reports on the incidence, pathology, and treatment of adder (Vipera berus) bites in man in the United Kingdom and Europe produced numerous case studies but little information about the impact od adders as a threat to public health. Adder bites in man are not uncommon (at least 44/year and probably more than 90/year in the United Kingdom) and, although they have been record...

A haemorrhagic toxin (VRR-12) from Vipera russelli russelli (Russell's viper) venom has been purified by ion-exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex C-50 followed by size-exclusion HPLC to electrophoretically homogeneous state. It is a 12 kDa single polypeptide having 1 mole of Zn+2 ion. This toxin induces intense intestinal haemorrhage and to a lesser extent skeletal muscle haemorrhage in mice....

Predator avoidance of noxious prey, aposematism and defensive mimicry are normally associated with bright, contrasting patterns and colours. However, noxious prey may be unable to evolve conspicuous coloration because of other selective constraints, such as the need to be inconspicuous to their own prey or to specialist predators. Many venomous snakes, particularly most vipers, display patterns...

We studied for the first time the occurrence of multiple paternity, male reproductive success, and neonate survival in wild, low-density adder (Vipera berus) populations using 13 microsatellite loci. Paternity was assigned for 15 clutches, collected during 3 years. Our data demonstrated that multiple paternity can occur at a high level (69%) in natural populations of V. berus, even if the densi...