Ability of wedelolactone, heparin, and para-bromophenacyl bromide to antagonize the myotoxic effects of two crotaline venoms and their PLA2 myotoxins.

We examined the ability of wedelolactone, heparin and para-bromophenacyl bromide to antagonize the myotoxic activity in mice of venoms from Crotalus viridis viridis and Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus and two phospholipase A2 myotoxins, CVV myotoxin and ACL myotoxin, isolated from them. Myotoxicity was measured by the increase in plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity at two hours and histological changes in extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL) at three hours after injection of the test solution. Both heparin and wedelolactone independently reduced the myotoxic effect of both crude venoms and both myotoxins, but wedelolactone was more effective. Wedelolactone plus heparin reduced the myotoxic effect of CVV myotoxin more than either antagonist alone. The PLA2 inhibitor, para-bromophenacyl bromide (pBPB), reduced the myotoxic effect of both myotoxins more than either wedelolactone or heparin. On the other hand, the myotoxic effect of polylysine was not reduced by either wedelolactone or para-bromophenacyl bromide, but it was reduced by heparin. These results indicate that wedelolactone, para-bromophenacyl bromide and heparin are antagonists of these two phospholipase A2 myotoxins, and that antagonism by the first two compounds may be due to a more specific interaction with these proteins than that by the latter.