The Effect of Two Preservation Techniques on the Yield, Percentage Solids, Electrophoretic Profile, Gelatinolytic Activity, and Brine Shrimp Lethality of Bitis arietans Venom

This study compared the yield, percentage solids, electrophoretic profile, gelatinolytic activity, and brine shrimp lethality of <i>Bitis arietans</i> venom prepared using freeze-drying and desiccator drying. <i>Bitis arietans</i> venom was collected from snakes at Bioken snake farm, Kenya, whereafter it was pooled and divided into two parts. Part 1 was desiccator dried venom (DDV) while part 2 was freeze-dried venom (FDV). The yield and percentage solids in DDV and FDV were compared using Welch's Student's <i>t</i>-test and the dried venoms were subsequently subjected to sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), 2D electrophoresis, gelatin in-gel zymography, and brine shrimp lethality assays. Mean venom yield and percentage solids did not differ between DDV and FDV (<i>p</i> = 0.5647 and <i>p</i> = 0.4676, respectively). SDS-PAGE and two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis revealed similar protein profiles for DDV and FDV, showing bands and spot clusters within molecular weight ranges of ~16 kDa to >150 kDa and pH ranging from 3.5 to 9.5. Enzyme zymography revealed comparable gelatinolytic activity between DDV and FDV. However, the brine shrimp lethality assay indicated significantly higher toxicity in DDV (LC₅₀: 86.57 μg/mL) compared to FDV (LC₅₀: 460.37 μg/mL). DDV also showed greater lethality than FDV at 100 μg/mL (<i>p</i> = 0.0416) and 1000 μg/mL (<i>p</i> = 0.0008) but not at 10 μg/mL (<i>p</i> = 0.2465). These findings suggest that DDV exhibits higher toxicity in brine shrimp larvae than FDV, although both drying methods result in similar yields, percentage solids, venom profile, and gelatinolytic activity. Further research is necessary to investigate the mechanism behind this difference and its implications for antivenom production and long-term stability of venom.