The effect of physiological levels of South African puff adder (Bitis arietans) snake venom on blood cells : an in vitro model

dc.contributor.authorStrydom, Morne A.
dc.contributor.authorBester, Janette
dc.contributor.authorMbotwe, Sthembile
dc.contributor.authorPretorius, Etheresia
dc.contributor.emailresia.pretorius@up.ac.zaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-29T07:13:58Z
dc.date.available2016-11-29T07:13:58Z
dc.date.issued2016-10-24
dc.description.abstractA significant burden of illness is caused globally by snakebites particularly by the puff adder, Bitis arietans. Presently there is no reliable and rapid method to confirm envenomation on blood chemistry; although coagulation parameters like prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, international normalized ratio and also serum electrolytes are tested. Here, we found that direct in vitro exposure of physiological relevant whole venom levels to human healthy blood (N = 32), caused significant physiological changes to platelet activity using a hematology analyzer, and measuring occlusion time, as well as lyses time, with the global thrombosis test (GTT). Disintegrated platelets were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We also confirmed the pathologic effects on erythrocytes (RBCs) (visible as eryptotic RBCs), by looking at both light microscopy and SEM. Thromboelastography showed that no clot formation in whole blood could be induced after addition of whole venom. We propose further clinical studies to investigate the use of light microscopy smears and hematology analyzer results immediately after envenomation, as a possible first-stage of clinical confirmation of envenomation.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentPhysiologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2016en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (91548: Competitive Program) and Medical Research Council (MRC) of South Africa (Self-Initiated Research Program: A0X331). Grant holder: E Pretorius.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.nature.com/scientificreportsen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationStrydom, M.A., Bester, J., Mbotwe, S. & Pretorius, E. The effect of physiological levels of South African puff adder (Bitis arietans) snake venom on blood cells: an in vitro model. Scientific Reports. 6, 35988; DOI: 10.1038/srep35988 (2016).en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.other10.1038/srep35988
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/58298
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherNature Publishing Groupen_ZA
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.en_ZA
dc.subjectIllnessen_ZA
dc.subjectSnakebitesen_ZA
dc.subjectBlood chemistryen_ZA
dc.subjectPuff adder (Bitis arietans)en_ZA
dc.subjectScanning electron microscopy (SEM)en_ZA
dc.subjectGlobal thrombosis test (GTT)en_ZA
dc.titleThe effect of physiological levels of South African puff adder (Bitis arietans) snake venom on blood cells : an in vitro modelen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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