R.D.G. Theakston

TL;DR: There was much room for improving the production, quality control and safety profile of antivenoms and that lessons could be learnt from the experience gained with the preparation of human immunoglobulins, but international standards and reference materials were not appropriate in the antivenom field.

TL;DR: A large hemorrhagin, jararhagin, has been cloned from a Bothrops jararaca venom gland cDNA expression library and the cDNA sequence predicts a precursor protein (proprotein) with striking similarity to cryptic regions in precursors of the disintegrin peptides trigramin and rhodostomin.

TL;DR: The doses of antivenom recommended in Brazil and used in this study may be unnecessarily high, resulting in an unacceptably high incidence of reactions.

TL;DR: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can detect venom levels down to 1-5 ng/ml and should clarify many basic problems of envenoming in man.

TL;DR: It is suggested for ethical, scientific and economic reasons that this method be tested in laboratories involved in screening of venoms for lethality and, if found satisfactory, it should replace the classical LD50 assay.