Estudo sobre espécies de Micrurus Brasileiras: uma revisão sobreaspectos biológicos, veneno e anti-veneno

Abstract

Accidents with venomous animals are a public health problem, accordingtotheWorld Health Organization (WHO), they have been ignored and need moreattention.Thus, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of accidents involvingpoisoningbecome major obstacles to global public health. Snake venoms are verycomplexsets of proteins and peptides, which can act in different ways on the bodyof theirprey. The most poisonous snakes in the world are from the Elapidae family, thisisdue to the fact that their poison has high neurotoxic, myotoxic and hemorrhagicactivity, in addition to cardiovascular effects. The fauna of Brazil has about 265species of snakes, among them two families have venomous species (ElapidaeandViperidae), that is, those that produce toxins in specialized glands andhaveinoculator devices, such as jararaca, jararacuçu, surucucu, rattlesnake, coral. Thegenus Micrurus sp belongs to the Elapidae family, and is representedbycoral snakes. Elapidic accidents (genus Micrurus), have a low incidence andlethality.Poisoning is characterized by presenting several local and systemic manifestations.The patient may have symptoms related to cardiac, neural, muscular, renal andvascular toxicity. The most effective treatment is anti-elapid serum, administeredintravenously. The antidote is obtained through antibodies generated by horsesthatreceive a certain dose of the venom of M. frontalis and M. corallinus, theamount tobe administered varies according to the patient's symptoms. Despitethelowincidence of accidents, their potential severity and the scarcity of informationaboutthe venom and life habits of these animals, increases the need for researchongender