CLINICAL EVALUATION OF CATTLE INOCULATED WITH Crotalus durissus terrificus SNAKE VENOM DETOXIFIED BY IODINATION WITH OR WITHOUT ENCAPSULATION INTO LIPOSOMES

Abstract

The efficacy of detoxification of the crotalic venom for cattle by iodination and iodination plus encapsulation methods was clinically evaluated. Eleven 18-month-old heifers, weighing 160 kg in average, were used in this study. Groups of five animals were inoculated intramuscularly with 0.03mg/kg with either the detoxified non-encapsulated venom or the detoxified encapsulated venom. One control animal received the same dose of non-detoxified venom by the same route. Clinical evaluations were performed every two hours after venom inoculation (T₀ - T ₂₄). All clinical parameters (behaviour, posture, temperature, cardiac, respiratory and rumen movements frequencies, color of mucous membrane, sensorial and motor functions, and alterations at the inoculation site) were within the normal standards of the species throughout the studied period. It could be concluded that iodination of the crotalic venom, with or without incorporation into liposomes, suppresses the clinical manifestations of the crotalic envenomation in cattle.

KEYWORDS: bovine; Crotalus; venom.