Antitumor effect ofBothrops jararacavenom

Abstract

Many experimental studies have been carried out using snake venoms for the treatment of animal tumors, with controversial results. While some authors have reported an antitumor effect of treatment with specific snake venom fractions, others have reported no effects after this treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect ofBothrops jararacavenom (BjV) on Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cellsin vivoandin vitro. In thein vivostudy, Swiss mice were inoculated with EAT cells by the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route and treated withBjV venom (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.), on the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, and 13th days. Mice were evaluated for total and differential cells number on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th and 14th days. The survival time was also evaluated after 60 days of tumor growth. In thein vitrostudy, EAT and normal peritoneal cells were cultivated in the presence of differentBjV concentrations (2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 40.0, and 80 μg) and viability was verified after 3, 6, 12 and 24 h of cultivation. Results were analyzed statistically by the Kruskal-Wallis and Tukey tests at the 5% level of significance. It was observed thatin vivotreatment withBjV induced tumor growth inhibition, increased animal survival time, decreased mortality, increased the influx of polymorphonuclear leukocytes on the early stages of tumor growth, and did not affect the mononuclear cells number.In vitrotreatment withBjV produced a dose-dependent toxic effect on EAT and peritoneal cells, with higher effects against peritoneal cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate thatBjV has an important antitumor effect. This is the first report showing thisin vivoeffect for this venom.