Serological analysis of venoms and antivenins.

The immunological relationship between the venoms of six species of the snake genus Bothrops (alternata, atrox, cotiara, jararaca, jararacussu, neuwiedii) was investigated by assay against the corresponding species-specific antivenins in more than 11,000 intravenous and subcutaneous mouse tests. The observations were statistically analysed after the probit method.Both ways of antivenin assay gave numerically identical results, within the limits of error, in the majority of the tests. The width of the neutralization spectra of the monovalent sera anti-atrox, anti-jararaca, and anti-neuwiedii against the heterologous venoms is similar to that of a polyvalent antivenin obtained by immunization with all the six species of venom. The titre of a polyvalent antibothropic serum may vary with the venom species used in the assay.THE FOLLOWING ARE DISCUSSED: reasons for occasional difficulties in reproducing results, variations in the toxicity of different samples of the same venom species, divergences in the susceptibility of various species of laboratory animals to venom, and inter-relations between venoms and antivenins.