Avaliação da atividade da cabenegrina A-II frente às alterações bioquímicas e hematológicas e aos efeitos pressóricos induzidos pelo veneno de Bothrops jararacussu em ratos

Abstract

Medicinal plants against snakebite are widespread used in folk medicine in the world. This practice may be useful as a first treatment of snakebite victims, mainly in places where antivenom immunotherapy is not promptly available. Pterocarpans, especially the cabenegrins A-I and A-II, had their antiophidic activity proved by several experimental models. This work aimed to fix one efficient methodology to study biochemical and hematological alterations induced by Bothrops jararacussu venom in rats and verify the effects of cabenegrin A-II in these alterations, besides studying the effects of cabenegrin A-II in pressure changes induced by this venom. Indicatives parameters for renal function (creatinin, urea and uric acid), hepatic function (AST and ALT) and muscle injury (CK), besides glucose, electrolytes and hemogram were analyzed. Biochemical and hematological changes varied according the way of administration of the venom, variations related to the rate of absorption of the venom. In this case, intramuscular way was chosen to study the effects of cabenegrin A-II, where cabenegrin A-II was able to block the major part of biochemical and hematological effects induced by B. jararacussu venom, showing an improve in renal and hepatic function and less muscle injury than control group. On pressure changes induced by B. jararacussu venom, cabenegrin A-II blocked the hypotensive effect of the venom, indicating enzymatic inhibition promoted by this prenylated pterocarpan. These data, added to previous studies with this class, indicate prenylated pterocarpans as lead compounds in research of new antivenom drugs.