Abstract

 Background and Objectives

 Echis carinatus venom is a complex mixture of toxins. This venom contains metalloproteinases which convert prothrombin to meizothrombin. The prothrombin activator leads to the formation of small blood clots inside the blood vessels throughout the body. To understand the effect mechanism of Iranian Echis carinatus venom, in this study we investigated the effect of EV on human plasma proteins (prothrombin and fibrinogen) and on blood coagulation. The aim was the purification and characterization of procoagulant factor from the Iranian Echis Carinatus venom and the evaluation of the procoagulant activity on human plasma.

 Materials and Methods

 Crude venom from the Iranian snake species E. carinatus was selected. The prothrombin activator was purified from the crude venom of Echis carinatus by combination of the procedures by gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography , and reverse phase HPLC. Electrophoresis on 12.5% polyacrylamide gel was performed.

 Results

 The Iranian E. carinatus venom was able to coagulate human plasma very rapidly. The coagulation time was reduced from 13.4 seconds (SD= ±0.59) to 8.6 seconds (SD= ±0.64) when human plasma was treated with crude venom (concentraion of venom was 1 mg/ml).

 Conclusions

 The venom of Iranian Echis carinatus contains procoagulant factors. It seems the fraction F1B4 isolated from IEc to be like coagulation proteins which coagulate human plasma very rapidly in vitro.