Snake Venom
by Obiebi Enifome Sonia
INTRODUCTION
Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder serpents that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. It is commonly believed that all snakes are venomous but that is an erroneous believes. Of all the 2700 known species of snakes only 300 are venomous. Most species are non venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self defense. Some posses venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Non venomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction. (Joseph 1991)
Snake venom is a highly modified saliva produced by snake’s special salivary gland. Snake venom is of a very proteinceous nature with protein constituting 90 percent or more of the venom’s dry weight. The nature of this venom was first established by Bonapate Lucien in 1843. Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that snake venom is no way a simple substance, it is a complex mixture of numbers of proteins, peptide, enzymes, toxins and non protein inclusions (Leon et al., 2011). The makeup of the toxins varies widely from one snake species to another, this allows for the great variety of different snake bite effects. The enzyme present in snake venom often aid in the digestion of prey animal which receives the snake bite, but some of these enzymes enhance or contribute to the toxic effect of the venom. Approximately 20 of these enzymes are known to be toxic. one of them cholinesterase is used to paralyze the snake’s prey by relaxing the victim muscles to the point where they can no longer be controlled properly. Another enzyme phosphodesterase leads to a negative cardiac reaction in victims, most notably a rapid drop in blood pressure. Hyaluronidase is one of the most dangerous enzymes absorbed more rapidly by victim. Others include phospholipase, phosphodiesterase, phosphomonesterase, L-amino acid oxidase, specific
INTRODUCTION
Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder serpents that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. It is commonly believed that all snakes are venomous but that is an erroneous believes. Of all the 2700 known species of snakes only 300 are venomous. Most species are non venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self defense. Some posses venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Non venomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction. (Joseph 1991)
Snake venom is a highly modified saliva produced by snake’s special salivary gland. Snake venom is of a very proteinceous nature with protein constituting 90 percent or more of the venom’s dry weight. The nature of this venom was first established by Bonapate Lucien in 1843. Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that snake venom is no way a simple substance, it is a complex mixture of numbers of proteins, peptide, enzymes, toxins and non protein inclusions (Leon et al., 2011). The makeup of the toxins varies widely from one snake species to another, this allows for the great variety of different snake bite effects. The enzyme present in snake venom often aid in the digestion of prey animal which receives the snake bite, but some of these enzymes enhance or contribute to the toxic effect of the venom. Approximately 20 of these enzymes are known to be toxic. one of them cholinesterase is used to paralyze the snake’s prey by relaxing the victim muscles to the point where they can no longer be controlled properly. Another enzyme phosphodesterase leads to a negative cardiac reaction in victims, most notably a rapid drop in blood pressure. Hyaluronidase is one of the most dangerous enzymes absorbed more rapidly by victim. Others include phospholipase, phosphodiesterase, phosphomonesterase, L-amino acid oxidase, specific