title: [Design of an agglutination latex test to detect venoms from Viperidae snakes in patients' serum].
abstract: This latex agglutination test was designed as a tool in the diagnosis of the ophidic accidents The development of specific trials to identify venoms from the most common snakes inVenezuela in human sera, could contribute to the improvement of the diagnosis of these accidents caused by snakes of the Bothrops and Crotalus genera, and in the control of the antiophidic serum for the treatment in an adequate and immediate way. The results obtained revealed a sensitivity of 167 mg/mL with good specificity, rapidity (10 minutes) and simplicity, since it can be accomplished by personnel with a basic training and only a microscope is necessary. All these reasons show the potential of this technique. It is required to complement the results with studies of the different factors that take part in the making of the latex reagent and that allow to improve its quality. Among these modifications it is suggested to improve the detection of smaller quantities of venom, to prove the recognition of the specific immunoglobulin sensitized latex particles against the Bothrops and Crotalus venbm, and to reproduce the test at the clinical level by using serum from patients that have been victims of ophidic accidents.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Tropical Félix Pifano de la Universidad Central de Venezuela.
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lión
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Acosta
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012909:Snake Bites / Q000097:blood*; D014757:Viper Venoms / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D014757:Viper Venoms