Abstract

Russell’s viper being one of the most venomous snake species in Asia causes significant amount of snake bites and deaths due to neurotoxicity, coagulopathy, haemorrhage, cardiotoxicity, myotoxicity, hypotension, oedema, tissue damage and convulsion. Treatment with monoclonal antibodies, anti-snake venom is the only medically approved treatment available for snake envenomation and has many limitations and side effects such as anaphylactic shock, skin rashes, nausea to vomiting and fever, chills, hypotension, seizures, serum sickness, pruritus, urticaria, arthralgia, lymphadenopathy, encephalopathy etc. Recently, nanoscience and nanotechnology are playing an important role in medical field and has proven to be quite beneficial. In present study, chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (40±3 nm) are used to inhibit Russell’s viper venom activity. The silver nanoparticles and albumin conjugated with curcumin was prepared and characterized using spectroscopic techniques. Venom inhibitory potency of the prepared conjugate was analysed using acidimetry, protease assay and whole blood clotting test. The ultravioletvisible spectra showed enhancement in absorbance of venom with significant hyperchromic shift and thus confirmed modification of venom by silver nanoparticles. This also led to the enhanced interaction with bovine serum albumin-curcumin conjugates. Fluorescence data also showed strong interaction between the conjugates and venom. Interestingly the activity of Russell’s viper venom was reduced to 75 %-96 %. The possible mechanism of action of bovine serum albumin-curcumin complex on venom treated with silver nanoparticles is explained at molecular level and biocompatibility of the same was also analysed. Blood agglutination by bovine serum albumin-curcumin complex showed its in vitro biocompatibility.