Author(s): Mahmoud A. El Banhawy, Mohamed F. El-Asmar, Fathalla M. Hassan and Tarek R. Rahm
Article publication date: 1994-12-01
Vol. 12 No. 3 (yearly), pp. 405-415.
140
Keywords
hemorrhagic toxin, liver, histochemical study
Abstract
The effects of an intramuscular injection of the sublethal dose of the venom of the non-horned Cerastes cerastes snaks, as well as its purified hemorrhagic toxin "HR-a", on some cellular components of the liver cells of mice were histochemically demonstrated. After 24 h. of injection , depletion of polysaccharide and fat contents were observed in the hepatic cells of mice injected with the hemorrhagic fraction, whereas no changes were recorded in sections obtained from venom-treated animals. On the other hand, depletion of RNA contents was induced in cells of venom-injected animals, but no changes in such contents were detected in cells of HR-a injected animals. The hepatic cell's nuclei were mostly negative for DNA reaction in materials obtained from envenomated mice. However, margination of DNA was prominent due to the injection of the hemorrhagic toxin. A severe degree of protein depletion was also detected in the hepatocytes post-injection with either the venom or the hemorrhagic toxin.