Investigation of the Cardiotoxic, Inflammatory and Immunologic Responses of Horses to Rattlesnake Venom Including Development of a Fluorescent Elisa for Detection of Rattlesnake Ven

Clinical outcomes following rattlesnake bites in horses are widely variable and reasons for this variability are unknown. Being able to quantify venom dose could be helpful in further investigating the effects of rattlesnake venom in the horse. We hypothesized that ELISA techniques could be used to detect venom in equine biological samples. A double sandwich fluorescent ELISA was developed to detect venom in urine and at the bite site of horses with a clinical diagnosis of rattlesnake bite. Venom was successfully detected in equine biological samples using the fluorescent ELISA. We hypothesized that rattlesnake bitten horses frequently experience cardiac damage. In order to detect both myocardial cell injury and electrical dysfunction, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and electrocardiography were used to document cardiac damage in naturally envenomated horses. Twenty horses with clinical diagnosis of snake bite were included. Serum and plasma were collected at selected intervals. Holter monitors (Zymed, PhilVeterinary Pathobiolog