Archives of Razi Institute (May 2013)
Progress and improvement of the manufacturing process of snake antivenom
Abstract
Antivenoms have been used successfully for more than a century and up to now constitute the only effectivetreatment for snakebites .The production of antivenin started long time ago when the calmette was preparedthe antivenom in 1894.The method currently used to prepare antivenom by most of the manufacturers areoriginated from the method of Pope which was develop in 1938. Several new approaches in the production ofantivenom have been proposed to produce IgG, F(ab)2, F(ab) antivenin to improve their quality .Theseimprovement include complete or partial modification in the antivenom production regarding animal,immunization protocols , new adjuvants in hyperimmunization of animals , purification processes ( caprylicacid ,chromatography , diafiltration and ulterafiltration ),enzymatic digestion of IgG (pepsin, papain ) andfractionation of venom .When the IgG is digested enzymatically, different fragments are obtained depending on the enzyme used, that is, if papain is used, three fragments are obtained, the crystallizing fragment (Fc) and two antigen-binding fragments F(ab) and, if pepsin is used, one F(ab')2 fragment is obtained, while thecrystallizing fragment is digested. Fab and F(ab)2 fragments conserve their capacity to specifically bind to the antigen that gave rise to them.
