Plant natural products active against snake bite--the molecular approach.

The article surveys the substances identified in plants reputed to neutralize the effects of snake venoms. Protective activity of many of them against the lethal action of the venom of the jararaca (Bothrops jararaca) snake was confirmed by biological assays. It was shown that all belong to chemical classes capable of interacting with macromolecular targets--receptors and enzymes. In a few cases it has been shown that exogenous natural micromolecules can mimic the biological activity of endogenous macromolecules. From the evidence presented, it can be inferred that micromolecules which neutralize the action of snake venoms mechanistically replace endogenous antitoxic serum proteins with venom neutralizing capacity such as produced by some animals.