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ULTRASTRUCTURAL EFFECTS OF THE VENOM OF THE SMALL‐SCALED SNAKE ( PARADEMANSIA MICROLEPIDOTUS ) ON THE NERVE TERMINALS OF THE RAT DIAPHRAGM
Author(s) -
Hamilton RC,
Broad AJ,
Sutherland SK
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1980.37
Subject(s) - venom , axolemma , neurotoxin , neurofilament , synaptic vesicle , snake venom , anatomy , biology , chemistry , neuroscience , vesicle , endocrinology , immunology , biochemistry , membrane , central nervous system , myelin , immunohistochemistry
Summary Venom of the small‐scaled snake ( Parademansia microlepidotus ) causes a large increase in the number of coated omega figures inserted in the axolemma of nerve terminals. It also causes both a loss of synaptic vesicles and an increase in the number of neurofilaments in the nerve terminals. The actions of the venom are very similar to taipoxin, a pre‐synaptic neurotoxin from the venom of the taipan ( Oxyuranus scutellatus ). The morphological changes in the nerve terminals caused by the small‐scaled snake venom are not unusual and do not explain the extreme lethality of the venom.