Fig. 6. DMPS delays lethality in vivo in a ‘challenge and treat’ model of envenoming.

Kaplan-Meier survival graphs for experimental animals (n=5) receiving venom (intraperitoneal administration), followed by delayed drug treatment (intraperitoneally 15 min later). (A) Survival of mice receiving 5 x the intravenous LD₅₀ dose of E. ocellatus venom (90 µg) with or without 120 µg of drug (dimercaprol or DMPS) 15 min later. (B) Survival of mice receiving 7 x intravenous LD₅₀ dose of E. pyramidum venom (112 µg) with or without 120 µg of DMPS 15 min later. (C) Survival of mice receiving 5 x intravenous LD₅₀ dose of E. carinatus (India) venom (95 µg) with or without 120 µg of DMPS 15 min later. For (A), (B), and (C), drug-only controls are presented as black dotted lines at the top of each graph (none of the drugs exhibited toxicity at the given doses), and the end of the experiment was at 24 h. (D) Quantification of TAT concentrations in envenomed animals. Where the time of death was the same within experimental groups (early deaths or complete survival), TAT concentrations were quantified for n=3, and where times of death varied, n=5. The data are displayed as means of the duplicate technical repeats plus SDs. EOC, E. ocellatus; EPL, E. pyramidum; ECAR, E. carinatus.