Purificación y algunas propiedades de una hialuronidasa del veneno de la serpiente Bothrops brazili "jergón shushupe"

In the venom of the snake Bothrops brazili was found a protein with hyaluronidase activity. The purification was performed by two chromatographic steps using SephadexG-75 and DEAE SephadexA-50 columns equilibrated with ammonium acetate buffer 0.1M, pH 5. The purification obtained was 33 fold with 54.5% of yield and a recovery of active protein was equivalent to 1.66%. This enzyme was a basic protein with a molecular weight of 110kDa and an optimum pH of 5,5. The enzymatic activity at 20 °C was maintained at 50% after 72 hours and was completely inactivated at 192 hours. Furthermore, the enzymatic activity was increased by 38.9% by the addition of magnesium ions (150mM). The diffusing capacity of the protein was demonstrated by increased hemorrhagic activity caused in mice when added to the purified enzyme. Toxicity assays in mice and enzyme- antivenoms assays indicated that hyaluronidase was not toxic and was completely inhibited by both polyvalent bothropic as monovalent lachesic antivenoms (INS-Peru).