The 4th-generation of antivenomics: an innovative way to study the efficacy of antivenom

Abstract

Echis ocellatus is a snake of the Viperidae family. As any viperidae their venom is mainly hemotoxic and cytotoxic which can cause severe damage, even fatal following envenomation. To assess the capabilities of the EchiTabG antivenom to treat Echis ocellatus envenomations, a series of Venomics and Antivenomics experiments, including the use of MALDI-TOF/MS, Native HPLC-MS, proteomics, 1D SDS-Page was performed, with the aim of setting up a new generation of Antivenomics, faster and greener, but also to be able to evaluate which toxins were the most immunocaptured, the most immunogenic and to evaluate the diversity of toxins found in the venom. The goal was to determine if the antivenom was effective and captured the most important toxins with a high biological impact. To perform these antivenomics experiments, and contrary to the usual technique using immunoaffinity columns, tosylactivated magnetic beads were used for the first time in antivenomics experiments. This approach has proven to be effective and shows clear signs of efficiency. It is therefore a method to be further developed in order to perform high throughput experiments and automatization of the process. The results of the Antivenomics experiments seem to show some efficacy, and it seems that the antivenom targets Phospholipases A2, Snaclecs and Snake venom metalloproteinases, indicating some efficacy of the antivenom, in situ tests should be performed to evaluate its efficacy in biological media and to know its biological efficacy.