| A neurotoxin has been purified to homogeneity from the crude snake venom of Agkistrodon blomhoffii Ussurensis by employing sequentially cation exchange chromatography on a HiTrap SP (5><5ml) column and gel filtration on a Superdex 75 column( 120ml), which showed a single band in SDS-PAGE. Using Q-TOF/MS, the neurotoxin was found to have a molecular weight of 13881.85 ?.33D, and the isoelectric point is 8.56 analyzed by IEF-PAGE.The neurotoxin has no fibrinolytic activity, phospholipase Aa activity, haemorrhagic activity, and acetylcholinesterase activity. The LDjo of the neurotoxin is 5.1mg/kg. Its analgesic effect was assayed by the hot plate test. When injected (i.p.) in adult 615 mice (18-22g), it induced a time-dose dependent analgesic effect which was inhibited by naloxone, thus suggesting an opioid action mechanism. When compared with pethidine hydrochloride (30mg/kg), the neurotoxin in a dose of 1.25mg/kg(i.p.) is approximate 20-fold more potent than pethidine hydrochloride as an analgesic. On a molar basis it is about 880-fold more potent than pethidine hydrochloride. |
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