title: Geographical variability of the venoms of four populations of Bothrops asper from Panama: Toxicological analysis and neutralization by a polyvalent antivenom.
abstract: Bothrops asper is the medically most important venomous snake in Central America. In Panama, the country having the highest incidence of snakebites in Latin America, B. asper is widely distributed throughout the country and is responsible for the vast majority of snakebites. This study was performed to analyze whether there are variations in the toxicological profile and in some biochemical parameters between the venoms of B. asper from four different regions in Panama. The venoms showed a similar profile of lethal, hemorrhagic, in vitro coagulant, defibrinogenating, edema-forming, myotoxic and indirect hemolytic activities, with subtle quantitative variations between samples of some regions. The venoms also had similar SDS-PAGE patterns and reverse phase HPLC profiles. A polyvalent antivenom manufactured in Costa Rica, and regularly used in Panama, was effective in the neutralization of lethal activity of the venoms of the four populations, with Mean Effective Doses (ED50) ranging from 5.98 to 9.72 mg venom/mL antivenom. In agreement, a widespread pattern of cross-reactivity between this antivenom and the four venoms was observed by immunoblotting. Overall, results highlight the lack of marked differences between the venoms of the various populations of B. asper in Panama, and that the antivenom from Costa Rica is effective in neutralizing lethality.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Información de Medicamentos y Tóxicos (CIIMET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Sara María
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Vélez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Información de Medicamentos y Tóxicos (CIIMET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panamá, Panama; Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Información de Medicamentos y Tóxicos (CIIMET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panamá, Panama. Electronic address: hildaura6@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hildaura
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Acosta de Patiño
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Leandra
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Abdiel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Información de Medicamentos y Tóxicos (CIIMET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saldaña
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, Universidad de Panamá, Panama.
authors.forename: Deyvi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lomonte
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Otero-Patiño
authors.affiliation: Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: José María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000997:Antivenins / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017837:Bothrops; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003435:Crotalid Venoms / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010176:Panama
chemical_list: D000997:Antivenins; D003435:Crotalid Venoms
keywords: Antivenom; Bothrops asper; Neutralization; Panama; Snake venom variability; Toxicity