Snake venoms are sources of molecules with proven and potential therapeutic applications. However, most activities assayed in venoms (or their components) are of hemorrhagic, hypotensive, edematogenic, neurotoxic or myotoxic natures. Thus, other relevant activities might remain unknown. Using functional genomics coupled to the connectivity map (C-map) approach, we undertook a wide range indirec...

We describe here a test for lupus anticoagulants based on a modified Russell viper venom time (RVVT). using limiting amounts of phospholipid and venom. We have studied 29 patients with a prolonged dilute RVVT. Five of the 29 had a normal activated partial thromboplastin time and three of 1 4 tested by the tissue thromboplastin inhibition test were normal. In 1 7 of 1 9 patients tested. the dilu...

Exposure of plasma to iron and carbon monoxide (CO) renders fibrinogen resistant to fibrinogenolytic or thrombin-like activity contained in pit viper venom. However, the direct effects of iron/CO on venom activity are unknown. Thus, we assessed if four different, metalloproteinase containing snake venoms exposed to iron/CO or CO alone could attenuate their fibrinogenolytic or thrombin-like acti...

The International Society on Haemostasis and Thrombosis (ISTH) and the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) have recently updated their lupus anticoagulant (LA) detection guidelines. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) subsequently will publish its first LA guideline. General agreement exists on issues such as sample preparation, the use of dilute Russell vip...

It has been a common belief that snake venom may help in the digestion of its prey, although direct examples and supporting evidence have not been sufficient. To address this, the present study examined whether preinjecting natural amounts of pit viper venom into experimental mice may accelerate their digestion by the snakes or gain energy benefit as compared to the control without the envenoma...

An adequate assessment of scorpion and snake venom LD50 is an important step for accurate evaluation of antivenom sera potencies and the optimization of serotherapy. The LD50 variation of Tunisian scorpion (Androctonus australis garzonii: Aag and Buthus occitanus tunetanus: Bot) venoms with body weight, sex and strain (Swiss or C57BI/6) of mice used, the route of venom injection, the venom-milk...