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Haemotoxicity

Snake venom contains a mixture of proteins and glycoproteins aimed at immobilising and incapacitating its victim. It exhibits various enzymatic activities and mainly affects platelet aggregation and blood coagulation. Viper venom can comprises of proteins such as snake venom serine proteases, snake venom metalloproteinases, disintegrins, snaclecs, and type II phospholipases A2. Snake venom is deadly because it interferes with the homeostatic system of blood.


Certain snake venom toxins are proteins which inhibit blood coagulation in the patient, it does so by inhibiting the pathway which turns fibrinogen into fibrin causing the patient to bleed out, and dying due to a loss of blood. However, snake venom can also increase the action of coagulation by causing a massive blood clot, altering the state of blood into a “jelly” like consistency. This can cause cardiac arrest and stroke.


Antibodies, made from ingesting small amounts of venom into a horse, is extracted from its blood and administered to patients to reverse the effects of haemotoxicity and neurotoxicity.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTIMPnuIBFg

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5484289/

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6288-6_49-1

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