Fig. 4. In vivo neutralization of myotoxin II using a preincubation assay.

The graph illustrates in vivo muscle damage caused by myotoxin II (Mt) from B. asper measured as increased creatine kinase (CK) levels. Myotoxin II was preincubated with antibody/antivenom for 30 min and then injected i.m. in mice. After 3 h, the mice were bled, and CK levels were measured. To accommodate for assays carried out on different days, the CK levels have been normalized to the positive control (Mt) and are reported as means with error bars representing the SD (n = 5 mice, except for Mt + Irrelevant IgG where instead n = 4 mice due to the removal of an outlier) and dots representing individual data points. Asterisks (****p-value < 0.0001) note significant statistical difference, ns represents a non-significant p-value (>0.05). Statistics were carried out on preselected groups using one-way ANOVA followed by Šídák’s multiple comparison test. For clearer visualization, the ICP antivenom has been abbreviated as AV. Irrelevant IgG refers to an IgG not binding to myotoxin II. Source data are provided in a Source Data file which includes exact p-values and confidence intervals.