Abstracto
- Haemorrhage is a common clinical manifestation in envenomings caused by bites from 51 snakes of the family Viperidae. Therefore, knowing the haemorrhagic potential of 52 venoms and the capacity of antivenoms to neutralise this effect are of paramount 53 relevance in toxinology. The most widely used method for quantifying haemorrhage 54 involves the intradermal injection of venom (or a mixture of venom/antivenom) in mice, 55 and the assessment of the resulting haemorrhagic area in the inner side of the skin. 56 Although this method allows a straightforward assessment of the haemorrhagic activity 57 of a venom, it does not account for haemorrhagic lesions having a similar area but 58 differing in the depth and intensity of haemorrhage. We have developed an approach 59 that allows the assessment of both area and intensity of a venom-induced haemorrhagic 60 lesion using computational tools and propose a unit to represent the combination of 61 these two factors as a measure of haemorrhage intensity, namely haemorrhagic unit 62 (HaU). A strong correlation was observed between haemoglobin extracted from a 63 haemorrhagic lesion and the associated HaUs. The method was used to determine the 64 haemorrhagic activity of the venoms of Bothrops asper, Echis ocellatus and Crotalus 65 basiliscus and the haemorrhage neutralising capabilities of the three associated 66 antivenoms. Overall, the ease of use, as well as the time and costs involved in this new 67 method, makes its implementation very feasible in the determination of haemorrhagic 68 activity of venoms and its neutralisation by antivenoms in the murine model.