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Background  An alarming number of fatal accidents involving snakes are annually reported in Africa and most of the victims suffer from permanent local tissue damage and chronic disabilities. Envenomation by snakes belonging to the genus  Bitis , Viperidae family, are common in Sub-Saharan Africa. The accidents are severe and the victims often have a poor prognosis due to the lack of effective specific therapies. In this study we have biochemically characterized venoms from three different species of  Bitis, i.e., Bitis arietans, Bitis gabonica rhinoceros  and  Bitis nasicornis , involved in the majority of the human accidents in Africa, and analyzed the  in vitro  neutralizing ability of two experimental antivenoms.    Methodology/Principal Findings  The data indicate that all venoms presented phospholipase, hyaluronidase and fibrinogenolytic activities and cleaved efficiently the FRET substrate Abz-RPPGFSPFRQ-EDDnp and angiotensin I, generating angiotensin 1–7. Gelatinolytic activity was only observed in the venoms of  B. arietans  and  B. nasicornis . The treatment of the venoms with protease inhibitors indicated that  Bitis  venoms possess metallo and serinoproteases enzymes, which may be involved in the different biological activities here evaluated. Experimental antivenoms produced against  B. arietans  venom or  Bitis g. rhinoceros  plus  B. nasicornis  venoms cross-reacted with the venoms from the three species and blocked, in different degrees, all the enzymatic activities in which they were tested.    Conclusion  These results suggest that the venoms of the three  Bitis  species, involved in accidents with humans in the Sub-Saharan Africa, contain a mixture of various enzymes that may act in the generation and development of some of the clinical manifestations of the envenomations. We also demonstrated that horse antivenoms produced against  B. arietans  or  B. g. rhinoceros  plus  B. nasicornis  venoms can blocked some of the toxic activities of these venoms.

plos neglected tropical diseases

African Adders: Partial Characterization of Snake Venoms from Three Bitis Species of Medical Importance and Their Neutralization by Experimental Equine Antivenoms