title: Preparation of highly potent Naja naja atra (Formosan cobra) antivenin.
abstract: As the preparation of high titer antiserum against Naja naja atra venom is a time-consuming process, attempts were made to develop a immunization procedure for producing highly potent antiserums within a short period. Rabbits were immunized for 12 weeks with (1) whole venom as used routinely in our Institute, (II) whole venom adsorbed on carboxymethyl-cellulose (CMC) and mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant and (III) neurotoxin adsorbed on CMC and adjuvant mixture followed by CMC-whole venom-adjuvant mixture. The results showed that one ml of the antiserum prepared by method (III) could neutralize 445 LD50 of whole venom, in other words, its potency was 4 and 40 times higher than those prepared by methods (II) and (I), respectively.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000997:Antivenins / Q000276:immunology / Q000592:standards* / Q000633:toxicity; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis
chemical_list: D000997:Antivenins; D004546:Elapid Venoms