STUDIES ON CARDIOTOXIN AND VASOACTIVE-SUBSTANCE-RELEASING COMPONENT(S) OF COBRA VENOM. I. PURIFICATION AND SOME PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CARDIOTOXIN

Abstract

Lyophylized venom of Naja naja atra was fractionated on column of CM-Sephadex (G-50) into 13 fractions by gradient elution with ammonium acetate buffer at pH 5-7. Among them five fractions (V-IX) were found to be neurotoxic and three (X,XII,XIII) were cardiotoxic. Intraperitoneal LD50 in mice was 0.074 micrograms for Fr. VIII-the major neurotoxic component (NT) and 1.48 micrograms/g for Fr.XIII-the major cardiotoxic one (CT. CT caused contracture, as well as reduction of resting membrane potentials, of the frog's sartorius, chick's biventer cervicis, and rat's diaphragm. In the absence of calcium, the contracture was markedly reduced, although the depolarizing effect remained unchanged. Neither contracture nor depolarization was caused by NT. The terminal nerve spikes of the frog sartorius were abolished by CT but unaffected by NT. CT caused systolic arrest of isolated frog hearts and rat's atria by reducing the membrane potentials, whereas NT was almost without effect. CT caused a slow contraction of the guinea pig ileum, which was partially antagonized by either atropine or procaine but not by hexamethonium or antihistaminics. In the presence of CT, the responses to nicotine and 5-hydroxytryptamine were greatly inhibited, usually preceded by an initial and transient facilitation. The responses to histamine and acetylcholine were not, or only slightly, reduced by CT. The vessels of the rabbit ear were constricted by CT. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 15, 1966
Accession Number
AD0637845

Entities

People

  • Chen-yuan Lee
  • Chuan‐Chieh Chang
  • P. J. S. Chiu
  • T. C. Tseng
  • T. H. Chiu

Organizations

  • National Taiwan University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Animals
  • Arteries
  • Blood
  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Cells
  • Electrocardiography
  • Health Services
  • Heart
  • Heart Rate
  • Histamine
  • Intervals
  • Lethal Dosage
  • Membrane Potentials
  • Membranes
  • Muscles
  • Rodents

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Medicine

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
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