Cerastes cerastes gasperettii venom Induced Hematological Alterations and Oxidative Stress in Male Mice
Al-Sadoon, Mohamed K. . 2014
The desert horned vipers (Cerastes cerastes gasperettii; C. c. gasperettii) are
the most familiar snakes of the great deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, including
the Saudi Arabia. They are responsible for many human snake bites. The current study
was designed to investigate the hematological effects and oxidative stress induction in
lung, heart and spleen after C. c. gasperettii envenomation. Thirty six male Swiss albino
mice were randomly divided into 2 groups, Control group injected intrapretoneally (i.p.)
with saline or LD50 dose envenomed group i.p. injected with venom at a dose of 978 μg/kg
body weight (bwt). Mice were sacrificed after 1, 3 and 6 hrs from the injection. The
number of white blood cells (WBC) was counted in envenomation and non-envenomation
groups. Also, hemoglobin (Hb) was determined. In addition, lipid peroxidation (LPO),
nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH) levels and catalase (CAT) activity were measured in
lung, cardiac and splenic homogenates. Statistical analyses were carried out using the
unpaired student t test. The differential WBC count showed difference between
envenomated and non-envenomated mice, which was mainly attributable to increase in
neutrophils, monocytes eosinophils, and basophils in the envenomation mice (p<0.001).
In the envenomation mice, the amounts of Hb were significantly lower compared to those
of the non-envenomation group (p<0.001). In addition to the hematological alterations,
C. c. gasperettii envenoming was associated to significant increasing in oxidative stress
levels. Moreover, congestion of the alveolar capillaries in lung, inflammatory cell
infiltration and myonecrosis in heart and splenomegaly were observed after 6 hrs of
envenomation. Based on these observations, we may conclude that the LD50 of C. c.
gasperettii venom causes hematological alternations in mice, characterized by elevated
oxidative stress levels and histological alterations in heart, lung and spleen tissues.
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