ELISA for the detection of venoms from four medically important snakes of India.

A double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect Echis carinatus venom in various organs (brain, heart, lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys) as well as tissue at the site of injection of mice, at various time intervals (1, 6, 12, 18, 24 h and 12 h intervals up to 72 h) after death. The assay could detect E. carinatus venom levels up to 2.

Ehretianone, a novel quinonoid xanthene from Ehretia buxifolia with antisnake venom activity.

Ehretianone (1), a new quinonoid xanthene, together with known sterols, was isolated from a MeOH extract of the root bark of Ehretia buxifolia. The structure of ehretianone was elucidated as 7-hydroxy-9a alpha-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-4a alpha,9 alpha-(2-methylprop-2-enyl)-4a, 9a-dihydro-1,4-dioxoxanthene on the basis of spectroscopic data and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The antisnake venom activity of ehretianone against Echis carinatus venom in mice is also reported.

Differential diagnosis of viral hepatitis based on hepatitis viral markers.

192 patients of acute viral hepatitis (AVH) from three different hospitals of Madras metropolitan area during November 1985 to January 1986 were investigated for serologic markers of hepatitis A virus (anti HAVIgM) and hepatitis B virus (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti HBcIgM and anti HBs) by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). While the overall pattern of AVH in Madras as revealed from the study showed Hepatitis A to be 36.4%, Hepatitis B 34.