title: Antidotes against venomous animals: state of the art and prospectives.
abstract: This communication revises the state of the art concerning antivenoms against snakes, spiders and scorpions. An overview of the historical facts that preceded the therapeutic use of antibodies is mentioned. A brief list of the major protein components of these venomous animals is revised with a short discussion of what is known on the proteomic analysis of their venoms, but the emphasis is placed on the type of antivenoms available commercially, including pertinent literature and addresses of the companies that prepare these antivenoms. The final section revises and discusses current research on the field and new potential applications that are being developed geared at obtaining new therapeutic antibodies or fragments of antibodies for neutralization of toxic components of venomous animals.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62210, Mexico.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Espino-Solis
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riaño-Umbarila
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Becerril
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Possani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000997:Antivenins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D020543:Proteome; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D012605:Scorpions; D012910:Snake Venoms / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D013112:Spiders
chemical_list: D000997:Antivenins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D020543:Proteome; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; D012910:Snake Venoms; D013111:Spider Venoms