Inorganic elements in blood of mice immunized with snake venom using NAA and XRF techniques

Abstract

Brazil has the greatest diversity of snakes in the world and a large portion of them are venomous. Nowadays, Instituto Butantan (research center, at Brazil) produces various types of antivenom to meet the large number of incidences. In this investigation, mice were immunized with different species of Bothrops snake venom to evaluate the inorganic elements concentration in their blood by using NAA and XRF techniques. The results were compared with the control group (mice not immunized) and with human estimative. The data allows to evaluate the toxicity of these elements, important for clinical screening of patients submitted to immunological therapy.