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Trypsin Fails as Australian Snake Bite Cure
Author(s) -
Broad Allen J.,
Sutherland Struan K.,
Lovering K. Erin,
Coulter Alan R.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1980.tb131880.x
Subject(s) - venom , trypsin , antidote , antivenom , potency , snake venom , pharmacology , in vivo , in vitro , trypsin inhibitor , chemistry , medicine , biology , toxicity , enzyme , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
Trypsin has been claimed a new and effective treatment for venomous snake bite. We found that significant inactivation of snake venom lethal potency occurred in vitro when trypsin was incubated with venom and subsequently injected into mice. Premixing of tiger snake venom (TSV) and trypsin just before injection did not significantly increase the survival rate of mice over that of controls injected with TSV alone. Trypsin injected 10 or 30 minutes after TSV injection did not increase the survival rate of mice compared with controls. Specific antivenom was effective as an antidote when there was a 10 minute delay after venom injection. There was varying susceptibility of different venoms to trypsin inactivation in vivo.