Effect of snake venom of Agkistrodon halys on atherosclerosis and blood characteristics in Japanese quail.

Extracts of snake venom have been widely used for the treatment of vascular thrombotic diseases, yet the therapeutic mechanism is not clear. The effect of snake venom fractions on atherosclerosis in Japanese quail was studied. The venom of Agkistrodon halys was fractionated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and the pooled protein fractions that resulted were injected intravenously into the quail with aortic atherosclerosis induced by dietary cholesterol. After 7 weeks of injections on every other day, the quail were killed, blood clotting times and serum cholesterol levels were determined, and aortic atherosclerosis and fatty liver were scored. The results showed that while no regression of atherosclerosis was observed, the lowering of serum cholesterol, prolonged blood clotting time and reduced fatty liver were significantly affected by the injection of one of the pooled protein fractions. This venom fraction contained two major protein components, one of which had arginine esterase activity. From this study we conclude that snake venom has little effect on the regression of atherosclerosis, but it prolongs blood clotting and lowers serum cholesterol.