Zootoxin – most commonly uttered as ‘venom’, a very much known term used in the field of biology dealing with its usage in medicinal purposes. Venom is a compilation of multifarious toxins produced by particular organisms for their defensive purposes; the injection of this poisonous liquid into the dupe, through a bite or a sting, can lead to the death of the victim.
When dealt with the constituents of the venom, we gather information about elements like several proteins, different enzymes, certain substances with cytotoxic effect and neurotoxic effect and coagulants. Venoms differ in their effect according to the preponderance in them of hemotoxic, hemolytic, or neurotoxic agents. Hemotoxic elements perforate the blood vessels, causing hemorrhage; and hemolysis dissolves the red blood cells. The venom of that of the rattlesnake, thecopperhead, and the moccasin is both hemotoxic and hemolytic. Neurotoxins produce paralysis, often of the nerve centers that control breathing, thus causing a quicker death from suffocation.Cobras, coral snakes, scorpions and spiders produce neurotoxic venoms. The venom of the Gabon Viper is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic.
Venom attacks can range in severity from a simple localized inflammation of the skin to almost immediate death, depending on the animal involved and the potency and mode of action of its venom. An attack’s severity also depends on the victim’s age [children are more severely affected than are adults] and the location of the injury [a venom wound on an arm or leg is usually less serious than a similar one on the head or trunk].
As every single object [though living or non-living] has its own merits and demerits; venoms too have their merits and demerits. The only demerit of venom is that when it is injected into its target, the ultimate disaster is that this act has all possibilities to turn out fatal to the target. Apart from this, venoms no longer stand in the category of demerits raised. The venoms of various snakes have been used medicinally, according to their specific properties, as painkillers [in arthritis, cancer and leprosy], antispasmodics [in epilepsy and asthma], and blood coagulants [in hemophilia]. The venom of Russell’s viper has been used as a coagulant in tonsillectomies and for bleeding gums. Poisons are produced by animal species of every phylum; examples include the poison in the rounded warts of the skin of toad; the venoms of spiders, scorpions, bees, and other arthropods, and the poison of jellyfish and other coelenterates.
Venoms have an unbeatable magnitude to learn about, to understand it, to have research fields for it and to enjoy its usage for medicinal purposes. Yet the enigma in us remains unrevealed, that is, even particular smallest species of living organisms possess the defensive mechanism through injecting venoms into the target.
