Scientists from the University of Kerala and the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) have come up with evidence that the root extract of a plant endemic to the Western Ghats and the evergreen forests in the Indian subcontinent is effective against the venom of the Russell’s viper.
The study, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology brought out by Elsevier, provides scientific validation of folk medicine practised by tribal healers. The extract of Ophiorrhiza mungos, commonly known as Keeri pacha or Keeri purandan in Malayalam, was found to neutralise the venom of the Russell’s viper ( Daboia russelii ). A potent haemotoxin, the viper venom acts on the circulatory system, bringing about coagulation of the blood and clotting of the pulmonary arteries in bite victims. It can cause death unless a remedy is speedily applied.
Insensate model tested
The study found that the root extract of O. mungos had compounds with the power to neutralise the viper venom and inhibit its activity. The research team, including Anaswara Krishnan S. from the Department of Zoology, Dileepkumar R. from the Centre for Venom Informatics, Achuthsankar S. Nair from the Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics under the university, and Oommen V. Oommen, Chairman, KSBB, used early-developing chick embryos as an insensate model to test the efficacy of the anti-venom. The plant root extract was found to abolish traces of haemorrhagic lesions induced by the viper venom in the chick embryos.
As many as 2 lakh snake-bite incidents are reported in India every year, of which 35,000 to 50,000 prove fatal. The Russell’s viper is the most common cause of fatal snake bite in southern India. The conventional clinical approach is the administration of polyvalent anti-snake venom prepared from the sera of horses or sheep. However, the poly specific anti-venom does not provide adequate protection against venom-induced haemorrhages, necrosis (tissue damage) and nephrotoxicity (kidney damage), and often produces serum reaction in some patients.
In addition, anti-serum development in animals is highly expensive and time consuming, and requires ideal storage conditions. Considering these limitations, scientists have turned their attention to systematic investigation of plant-based tribal remedies for snakebite, the paper says.
Traditional cure
“We found that tribal communities in south India had been using the roots of O. mungos to treat snakebite victims. There are several references to the plant in folk medicine literature. Our study is the first of its kind to examine the potential of the plant to act as an antidote to neutralise viper venom,” says Mr. Dileepkumar. The team used a plant specimen collected from the Kallar region for the study.
The researchers estimate that the bioactive compounds in the herbal extract had the capacity to bind with various toxic components in the venom, neutralising its effect. Mr. Dileepkumar says the use of the shell-less egg culture as an insensate model is significant in the preliminary stages of venom research as it reduces the pain and suffering of higher mammals used in experiments. “However, animal experiments and human clinical trials will have to be used in the subsequent stages.”
Source: The Hindu, 06 December 2013