Place the venom into cold storage immediately. The venom should be frozen at a temperature of −20 °C (−4 °F) or colder within an hour after extraction. Venom can be stored in this way for up to 1 month.
The study found that venom samples stored for 35 years were stable, with only a few enzymes showing any sign of degradation. The research also suggests that snake venom from specific species does not vary over time or with location.
We demonstrated that venom can be stored in TRIzol for 48 hours at 4–19°C, and 8 hours at 37°C, at minimal cost to RNA quality, and found that venom RNA encoded multiple toxin isoforms that seemed homologous (98–99% identity) to those found in the venom gland.
Antivenoms can maintain their efficacy 20 years after expiration.
It is generally accepted that the biological activities of snake venom dried in vacuum at room temperature remain unaltered (Christensen 1955).
Heating all venoms led to the denaturation and loss of some proteins; however, most of the venoms retained a significant number of proteins. Seventeen venoms contained more than seven proteins after heating, whereas five venoms contained only one to three proteins.
These findings suggest that after an hour of heating most toxic components in snake venom were already destroyed and heating could be used as a simple technique to detoxify cobra venom. In cobra venom, the major components are cardiotoxins and neurotoxins.
All antivenom batches remained active, with gradual deterioration in activity and binding over time. All batches of taipan antivenom at concentrations equivalent to the administration of one vial (including one 15 years expired) prevented clotting by taipan venom.
STORAGE:
Store the freeze dried antiserum in cool, dark place and avoid exposure to excessive heat. Store liquid antiserum at +2-8 0C and should not be allowed to freeze.
“The antivenom is really nice because it doesn't need to be refrigerated. It reconstitutes in 30 seconds and you can push it instead of a drip,” he said.
On the market, one gram of the snake's venom fetches about $4,000. The lethal liquid is used in antivenom production and laboratory research.
The only standardized specific treatment currently available for neutralizing the medically important effects of snake venom toxins is antivenom [8,9,12].
Unless the stoppers of their vials had decayed and let fresh air in, venoms were almost unchanged even after more than half a century. If air had got in, it was a different story – the proteins in a sample of death adder venom whose stopper had failed was seriously degraded.
Sea snake venom is extremely stable. Research has shown that boiling for 30 minutes and dissolving venom in both acidic and basic solutions to a pH range of 1 to 11, respectively, did not significantly change LD50 levels after administration in rats.
In general, the disposition of snake venom was described by a two-compartment model consisting of a rapid distribution phase and a slow elimination phase, with half-lives of 5 to 48 min and 0.8 to 28 h, respectively, following rapid intravenous injection of the venoms or toxins.
“But our peptide-based antivenom, on the other hand, is a lot more stable and it can be simply in the form of a powder. So it can be kept at home and once needed one can just break the vial, dissolve it and inject it.
Snake venom can be classified into three major categories – neurotoxic, hemotoxic and cytotoxic. These venoms impact specific regions and functions of the target's body.
The antivenom usually needs to be refrigerated or frozen, which further hinders availability in developing countries where electricity may be unreliable.
Many organic poisons like most common insecticides and herbicides break down over time and eventually lose their toxicity. They become less poisonous, meaning you need a bigger dose, but you'd have to wait years after the expiration before it stopped working altogether.
Several companies, including a U.S. manufacturer of coral snake anti-venom, stopped making the medications because it was no longer cost effective, explains Leslie Boyer M.D., founding director of the Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response (VIPER) Institute at the University of Arizona.
The Sind Krait can be easily classified as one of the most “toxic snakes” in India but there is no effective anti-venom to treat its bite, the study added.
It has been observed at temperatures of 50°C that venom toxicity is neutralized;[ 20] however, treating patients with water at this temperature could result in skin burns and tissue necrosis. [ 21] Current treatment protocols suggest that the victim be treated with HWI around 42–45°C for 30 to 90 minutes (min).
This separation may be effected by means of heat. If any sample of venom be thrown into watery solution and heated at 85° C. for a period of fifteen minutes, the albumin contained in the solution is coagulated and the phlogogenic substances are destroyed, whilst the toxicity of the substance is entirely unaffected.
It can also darken its skin to absorb more heat. Temperatures above 90 degrees Farenheit will cause an snake to overheat and could result in a fever that it can't control. Exposure to temperatures above 95 degrees Farenheit can kill a snake in minutes.