Antigénicité et pouvoir immunogène des toxines extraites des venins d'Elapidae et d'Hydrophiidae

Summary

In this article the results are reported of recent experiments concerning the antigenicity and the immunogenic properties of some basic toxic proteins recently extracted from snake venoms. A serological classification of these substances is proposed. 3 groups have now been determined. As most of the low molecular weight proteins (<10.000) the immunogenicity of the α toxin ofNaja nigricollis, taken as an example, is poor. The influence of polymerization of this toxin, and the adjuvant effect of the Freund mixture on the production of specific antibodies, are described. By affinity chromatography, using Sepharose 4B as a carrier, antibodies against this toxin were separated from the other proteins of the antiNaja nigricollis horse immune-serum. They belong to the IgT immunoglobulins. By the same technique, when erabutoxin ‘a’ fromLaticauda semifasciata is covalently linked to the Sepharose, antibodies reacting with both this toxin and the α toxin were separated from the same immuneserum. This confirms that an immunological relationship exists between the α toxin of an Elapidae:Naja nigricollis, and the erabutoxin ‘a’ of an HydrophiidaeLaticauda semifasciata.