Prolonged cardiac xenograft survival in guinea pig-to-rat model by a highly active cobra venom factor.
A highly active cobra venom factor (CVF) was isolated from the venom of Naja kaouthia by sequential column chromatography. It displays strong anticomplementary activity, and has 1515 U of anticomplementary activity per mg protein. A single dose of 0.1 mg/kg CVF given i.v. to rats completely abrogated complement activity for nearly 5 days. Given 0.02 mg/kg of CVF, the complement activity of rats was reduced by more than 96.5% in 6 h. In guinea pig-to-rat heart transplant model, rats treated with a single dose of 0.05 mg/kg CVF had significantly prolonged xenograft survival (56.12+/-6.27 h in CVF-treated rats vs. 0.19+/-0.07 h in control rats, P<0.001).
Sun
Qian-Yun
QY
Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China. sunqy@hotmail.com
Chen
Gang
G
Guo
Hui
H
Chen
Shi
S
Wang
Wan-Yu
WY
Xiong
Yu-Liang
YL
D000818:Animals; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D003169:Complement Inactivator Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000473:pathology; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000502:physiology*
D001685:Biological Factors; D003169:Complement Inactivator Proteins; D004546:Elapid Venoms