Preclinical validation of a repurposed metal chelator as an early-intervention therapeutic for hemotoxic snakebite.

ABSTRACT: Snakebite envenoming causes 138,000 deaths annually, and ~400,000 victims are left with permanent disabilities. Envenoming by saw-scaled vipers (Viperidae: Echis) leads to systemic hemorrhage and coagulopathy and represents a major cause of snakebite mortality and morbidity in Africa and Asia. The only specific treatment for snakebite, antivenom, has poor specificity and low affordability and must be administered in clinical settings because of its intravenous delivery and high rates of adverse reactions. This requirement results in major treatment delays in resource-poor regions and substantially affects patient outcomes after envenoming. Here, we investigated the value of metal ion chelators as prehospital therapeutics for snakebite. Among the tested chelators, dimercaprol (British anti-

SUBMITTER: Albulescu LO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7116364 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature