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The secretion of Duvernoy's gland of Malpolon monspessulanus induces haemorrhage in the lungs of mice

1992; Elsevier BV; Volume: 30; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0041-0101(92)90391-h

1879-3150

Herbert I. Rosenberg, S. Kinamon, Elazar Kochva, Avner Bdolah,

Poisoning and overdose treatments

A toxic protein that induces death of mice with profuse bleeding from the nostrils was isolated from the secretion of Duvernoy's gland of Malpolon monspessulanus (Colubridae). The toxic protein, referred to as CM-b, showed mainly one band on SDS-PAGE corresponding to a mol. wt of 24,000. Its intravenous LD50 in mice was 1 microgram/g and i.v. injections of lethal or sublethal doses induced haemorrhage in the lungs. When injected into the skin of mice, however, the toxin was not haemorrhagic. CM-b showed no proteolytic or procoagulant activity. The nature of this and other components from Duvernoy's secretion of colubrids that cause similar effects remains to be established.