A recent evaluation of the lethal potencies of ammodytoxins

Petra Prijatelj-Žnidaršič; Jože Pungerčar

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.02.009

A recent evaluation of the lethal potencies of ammodytoxins

Toxicon. 2012 May;59(6):642-3. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.02.009. Epub 2012 Mar 3.

Authors

Petra Prijatelj-Žnidaršič¹, Jože Pungerčar

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

PMID: 22406514
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.02.009

Abstract

Ammodytoxin A (AtxA) is the most toxic secreted phospholipase A(2) of the three isotoxins with presynaptic neurotoxicity, isolated from the venom of the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes ammodytes), with an LD(50) of 21 μg/kg in mice. The toxic potencies of two other isoforms have been re-evaluated using highly purified recombinant proteins, with their intraperitoneal LD(50)s determined as 960 μg/kg for AtxB and 310 μg/kg for AtxC. AtxB and AtxC differ from AtxA in only three and two amino acid residues, respectively.

MeSH terms

Animals
Group II Phospholipases A2 / toxicity*
Lethal Dose 50
Mice
Phospholipases A2 / toxicity*
Viper Venoms / toxicity*

Substances

Viper Venoms
ammodytoxin A
Group II Phospholipases A2
Phospholipases A2
ammodytoxin B
ammodytoxin C