抄録
Philodryas nattereri is distributed in arid and semiarid regions of South America and is most common in northeastern Brazil. The aims of the work were to investigate the edematogenic and myotoxic effects promoted by P. nattereri venom. In this work, mice weighing 20-30 g (n = 4 for each experimental group) were used. For the edematogenic activity mice were injected in the subplantar region of the right foot pad with 50 µL of solutions containing different amounts of venom (3 and 10 µg) measured by plethysmometry at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hr and pretreated with indomethacin, dexamethasone and antibothropic serum, whereas the left foot pad was injected with 50 µL of NaCl 0.15 M. Two hours after injection mice were killed by cervical dislocation and both feet were cut off and weighed individually. For the myotoxic activity mice were injected i.m. with 100 mL of solutions containing 50 µg of venom. Blood samples were extracted after 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 hr of venom injection to determinate serum CK activity and mice were sacrificed at the same time intervals to obtain the inoculated gastrocnemius muscle. They were fixed with formalin solution and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin. Results showed that P. nattereri venom exhibits a high edematogenic and myotoxic activities. Myonecrosis reached its highest level after 2 hr of venom injection as shown by plasmatic CK levels (364 ± 92 U/L) and microscopic assay. It demonstrates the potential toxicity of the venom of P. nattereri, who inhabits the North-East region of Brazil.
