Orally Administered Venom of Naja Naja Alters Protein Metabolic Profiles in the Liver of Albino Rats

Abstract—Recent studies indicate that the venom of cobra is active even when it is orally administered. However, studies pertaining to the oral intoxication of Naja naja venom has not been extensively studied. Hence, in the present investigation we report the effect of oral intoxication of Naja naja venom in protein metabolic profiles in the liver of Albino rat. We have selected 1/50th LD50 dose (7µg / kg body weight) in the present investigation and this dose was administered orally. Group I (3h) received single dose, Group II (6h) received 2 doses with an interval of 3h and Group III (12h) received 3 doses daily with an interval of 3h. At the end of the experiment (i.e. 12 h after administration of venom) the animals were sacrificed and different Protein metabolic profiles were studied in liver. All the parameters studied in the present investigation except total proteins showed an increment and this increment was more pronounced in 12h. Histopathological studies revealed the damage of liver. The degree of severity was more in 12h. The present study indicates that snake venom ingested orally, it severally alters the protein metabolic profiles in the liver and therefore, snake venom should not be ingested in any form. Index Terms—snake naja naja venom, oral administration, protein metabolic profiles, histopathology. I