Oral Immunization Response of Common Krait Found in Sindh Province of
Pakistan: A Novel Approach for Anti snake venom (ASV) Production
Abstract
Background: Snake biting are a substantially neglected health problem in
rural areas of Pakistan. There is a need for producing larger and better
quality anti-snake venom to decrease mortality associated with snakebite
cases. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a
novel strategy to produce antivenom against the venom of two common
krait species found in Sindh, Pakistan Methods: This was an animal-based
research conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Sindh,
Pakistan. All experimental subjects were categorized equally into two
groups with unique numerals for identification purposes. i.e. Group A
for Bungarus sindanus and Group B for Bungarus caeruleus. Each group
consisted of 6 horses. One horse in each group acted as a control.
Before initiating the immunization process, baseline serums were
collected from the subject’s jugular veins and stored as baseline
controls. Post immunization serums were weekly collected from the horses
and stored. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to
estimate immunoglobulin of the subjects by adding a fixed amount of
venom antigen with coating buffer pH of 9.5 to 10 ng, 100 ng, and 1000
ng. Incubated overnight at 37° C temperature in the incubator. Results:
The results showed that the two species of the krait family did not show
significant neutralizing antibodies against each other. The novel oral
adjuvant formulation of snake venoms is safe and easy to administer
which will be useful for commercial ASV production of potent antibodies
at a significantly reduced cost and without any significant adverse
effects on equine health. Conclusions: The current study presents an
effective novel approach for the production of anti-snake venom for
Bungarus sindanus and Bungarus caeruleus.