Estabilidad de la actividad neutralizante del antiveneno ofídico conservado a 4°C y a 16°C contra el veneno de Cascabel (Crotalus durissus cumanensis) de Colombia

Abstract

Neutralization of the lethal activity of severa1 batches of Polivalent Antivenom (non liophylized) produced by the lnstituto Nacional de Salud (INS) of Colombia was tested. The antivenoms were challenged against a pool of Crotalus dur;ssus cuamanensis venoms from Colombia, comparing the effectiveness of different batches stored at 4°C and 16°C in total darkness. The neutralization ability of the different batches of antivenom is given as the percentage remaining of the original titre after several years of storage. From the results of this study, we conclude that the antivenom stored at the recomended conditions (4°C and in total darkness), mantains its neutralizing ability (97.7%) after 3 years of storage, while antivenom stored at 1 6""C, after two years of storage, maintains 87.7%of its neutralizing effectiveness againstcrotalus dur;ssuscumanensisvenom.This protection is similar to that found in antivenom challenged against Bothrops atroxvenom (Ramírez, et al. 1994). These results support the recommendation to discard the product aftertwo years of being stored ata temperature of 16°C.