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. 2018 Sep 26;10(10):392. doi: 10.3390/toxins10100392

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© 2018 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Structures of citric acid, cis-aconitic acid, and itaconic acid. cis-Aconitate is an intermediate between itaconic acid and citric acid, in the citric acid cycle. It seems probable that itaconic acid and cis-aconitic acid exist to support citric acid production in the venom glands. These tricarboxylic acids chelate divalent cations to inactivate phospholipases, metalloproteases, nucleases, and other metalloenzymes in the venom gland; however, upon injection into prey tissues, these components are immediately activated.