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. 1981 May;73(1):157–163. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1981.tb16785.x

The effects of the subcutaneous injection of the crude venom of the Australian common brown snake, Pseudonaja textilis on the skeletal neuromuscular system.

J B Harris, C A Maltin
PMCID: PMC2071841  PMID: 7284695

Abstract

1 The effects of the crude venom of the Australian common brown snake on the mammalian neuromuscular system have been investigated. 2 The venom was injected subcutaneously into the dorso-lateral aspect of one hind limb of the rat. The limb was paralyzed within 90 min and remained paralysed for 2 to 3 days. 3 The exposed muscles failed to respond to indirect excitation, and individual fibres were not depolarized at the nerve-muscle junction by exposure to carbachol. 4 The wet weight, histological appearance, resting potential and input resistance of the muscle fibres and their ability to generate directly elicited action potentials were unaffected by exposure to the venom. 5 Administration of venom to isolated preparations caused a reduction in the amplitude of miniature endplate potentials, with no change in frequency. The quantal content of evoked endplate potentials was unchanged. 6 It was concluded that the crude venom was largely devoid of presynaptic activity and myotoxicity, and that its primary site of neurotoxicity was directed to the postsynaptic membrane.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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