COMPARISON OF THE IMMUNOGENICITY AND ANTIGENIC COMPOSITION OF 10 CENTRAL-AMERICAN SNAKE-VENOMS

The immunological reactivity of five crotaline antivenoms for the venoms of ten Costa Rican snakes was determined. Venoms from Bothrops asper, B. godmani, B. lateralis, B. nasutus, B. ophryomegas, B. schlegelii, B. nummifer, B. picadoi., Crotalus durissus durissus and Lachesis muta stenophrys were separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to cellulose nitrate membrane and reacted against five different antivenoms. Antisera used in the immunoblotting were prepared in rabbits to the crotaline venoms from Crotalus viridis viridis (prairie rattlesnake), Crotalus durissus terrificus (South American rattlesnake), Crotalus atrox (western diamondback rattlesnake), and Bothrops atrox (fer de lance). SDS-PAGE analysis of the ten venoms indicated that all venoms had components in the high-medium mol. wt (> 15,000) and low mol. wt (< 15,000) range, but they all had at least twice as many components in the high-medium mol. wt range. The venoms of B. nummifer and B. nasutus have the greatest number of bands (24) whereas B. asper has the lowest (17). There appeared to be no difference in immunogenicity between high-medium mol. wt components and low mol. wt components; however, with the venoms of B. nasutus, B. ophryomegas, and B. schlegelii, there were few reactions between antivenoms and low mol. wt components. Half of the ten venoms tested had the highest reactivity with antivenom against B. atrox venom. Two venoms reacted most with antivenom against C. adamanteus venom; one with antivenom to C. atrox venom; one with antivenom to C. v. viridis venom and one with antivenom to C. d. terrificus venom. Antivenom to B. atrox and C. adamanteus venoms were the most reactive whereas antivenom to C. d. terrificus was the least reactive of the five antivenoms tested. The results also demonstrated considerable cross-reactivity between venoms from snakes in the Crotalus and Bothrops genera.