COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE VENOMS OF 3 SUBSPECIES OF LACHESIS-MUTA (BUSHMASTER) FROM BRAZIL, COLOMBIA AND COSTA-RICA

A comparative study was performed on the pharmacology and biochemistry of venoms from three subspecies of Lachesis muta (L. m. stenophrys, L . m. muta and L. m. rhombeata) from Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica. A ll venoms induced lethal, hemorrhagic, edema-forming, myotoxic, coagul ant and defibrinating effects, showing also proteolytic and indirect h emolytic activities. The venoms of L. m. stenophrys from Costa Rica an d L. m. muta from Cascalheira, Brazil, had the highest lethal and hemo rrhagic activities and the venom of L. m. rhombeata showed the highest coagulant activity, whereas no significant differences were observed in myotoxic and edema-forming activities at most of the time intervals studied. In addition, venoms showed similar electrophoretic patterns on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In conclusion, despite quan titative differences in toxic and enzymatic activities, together with subtle variations in electrophoretic patterns, our results indicate th at experimental envenomation by these venoms induce a qualitatively si milar pathophysiological profile. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.