Table 2.

Effect of incubation of fibroblast cultures and sonicates with EcV (0.5 µg ml^–1 MEM for 4 h) on the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants and oxidants.

	Non-enzymatic parameters
		GSSG		H2O2	SOA	LPO
Samples assayed (n = 12)	GSH	nmole mg–1 protein	GSH/GSSG	pmole min–1 mg–1 protein	µmole min–1 mg–1 protein	pmole min–1 mg–1 weight
Control cultures	45.2 ± 3.62	0.76 ± 0.05	58.3 ± 4.92	1.61 ± 0.16	0.58 ± 0.05	30.3 ± 2.91
Cultures + EcV	30.7 ± 2.4*	1.01 ± 0.0*	29.2 ± 2.38*	2.45 ± 0.2*	0.89 ± 0.0*	43.6 ± 4.1*
Control sonicates	47.6 ± 3.80	0.81 ± 0.06	57.5 ± 4.64	1.70 ± 0.18	0.60 ± 0.06	29.1 ± 2.83
Sonicates + EcV	46.1 ± 3.69	0.78 ± 0.05	59.1 ± 4.82	1.65 ± 0.17	0.63 ± 0.06	30.8 ± 3.02

Confluent passage 5 cultures were used. The values shown are means ± SD for triplicates of the 12 cultures and sonicates. GSH = reduced glutathione, GSSG = oxidized glutathione, H₂O₂ = hydrogen peroxide, SOA = superoxide anion, LPO = lipid peroxidation.*Significant at p < 0.0001 upon comparison of the values obtained for all assayed parameters in EcV-incubated cultures against those recorded for venom-free controls.