SNAKE ANTI VENOMS FROM HYPERI MMUNI ZED HORSES: COMPARI SON OF THE ANTI VENOM ACTI VI TY AND BI OLOGI CAL PROPERTI ES OF THEI R WHOLE I gG AND F( ab' ) 2 FRAGMENTS ' Seçäo de Conoent r açäo de Sor os e Fraci onament o, and' Labor at 8r i o de I munoqui m i ca, I nst i t ut o But ant an, Säo Paul o, Br azi l ; and ' Depart amcnt o de I munol ogi a, I nst i t ut o de Ci ênci as Bi omédi cas, USP, Sâo Paul o, SP, Br azi l ANTT~i OM ser a used f or t her apeut i c pur poses ar e pr epar ed f r om hor se pl asma r i ch in speci f i c ant i bodi es . The met hods cur r ent l y used to pr epar e t hese ant i ser a ar e modi f i cat i ons of t he met hod or i gi nal l y devel oped by POPE ( 1938, 1939) . To obt ai n ant i venoms r i ch in ant i bodi es, but r el at i vel y poor in non-i mmunogl obul i n pr ot ei ns, pl asma f r om hor ses hyperi mmuni zed with snake venoms is subj ect ed to non- physi ol ogi cal r anges of pH and t emper at ur e, and sal t i ng- out with ammoni um sul phat e . The ef f ect of t hese dr ast i c t reat ment s on t he capaci t y of t he ant i bodi es to bl ock t he t oxi ns pr esent in t he venoms has not been syst emat i cal l y anal ysed . zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA " Aut hor to whom cor r espondence shoul d be addr essed. r ox ul e- e r . voi . 32. No . ~ . ~ . n~~x, i ~x 0041- 0101( 93) E0033- P pr i nt ~ôr ~~~~n . ao4i - 0i oi ~ rr . oo+o . oo J . F. MoRAI S, ' M . C . W . DE FRI ~r AS, 2 I . K . Y . ~wGUCI -n, ' M . C . Dos SAN~r os ' and W . DI AS DA Sn. vA~* ( Recei oed 21 Jul y 1993; accept ed 6 December 1993) J . F . MORA13, M . C . W . Ds FREI TAS, I . K . YAMACUCFn, M . C . Dos SANTOS and W . DI AS DA St i , vA. Snake ant i venoms f r om hyperi mmuni zed hor ses : compar i son of t he ant i venom act i vi t i es and bi ol ogi cal pr oper t i es of t hei r whol e I gG and F( ab' ) Z f ragment s . Toxi con 32, 725- 734, 1994 . - I gG and F( ab' ) Z f ragment s were pr epar ed f r om hor se pl asma r i ch in speci f i c ant i bodi es agai nst Br azi l i an Bot hr ops or Crot al es venoms . Bot h pr epar at i ons, f r ee of gr oss cont am i nat i on with non-i mmunogl obul i n pr ot ei ns, wer e abl e to combi ne in vitro with t hei r r espect i ve ant i gens, f or m i ng i mmune compl et es at ant i gen excess, equi val ence or ant i body excess, and act i vat i ng t he C syst em, t hr ough ei t her t he cl assi cal or t he al t er nat i ve pat hways . The I gG pr epar at i on was mor e ef f ect i ve in neut r al i zi ng t he l et hal f act or s in Bot hr ops or Crot al es venoms, compar ed with t he F( ab~2 f ragment s. In cont r ast , I gGand F( ab' ) 2 ant i - Bot h- r ops venom wer e al most equi pot ent in neut r al i zi ng t he haemor r hagi c and def i br i nat i ng act i vi t i es in t he venom . The met hod used to pur i f y I gG, pr eci pi - t at i on of mos t non-i mmunogl obul i n pl asma pr ot ei ns with capr yl i c aci d, pr oduced ant i venoms r i cher in speci f i c ant i bodi es, wi t h hi gher speci f i c act i vi t y, r ecover y and yi el d, compar ed with t he met hod c ommonl y used to pr epar e ant i venoms cont ai ni ng F( ab' ) Z. I NTRODUCTI ON 725