Development of a rapid and sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measuring venom antigens after an...

We describe a new ELISA which allows the measurement of the concentration of venom antigens in whole blood. The assay can be performed in less than 20 min and requires a 200 microliters sample of blood. It allows the accurate evaluation of concentrations of Vipera ammodytes venom in quantities smaller than 1 ng/ml of blood. Using this ELISA, we were able to follow in rabbits the kinetics of experimental envenomation with non-lethal doses of venom. This ELISA was also used to measure post mortem the level of venom antigens in various tissues such as liver, kidney, muscles and abdominal serosity of a rabbit. The method, which might be adapted to measure envenomation by other snake species, seems to be sufficiently rapid and sensitive to allow routine evaluation of the gravity of a snake bite in humans and to estimate the efficacy of immunotherapy.