The Natural Repertory of Prof. William Nelson

and systolic arrest of the heart muscle. They might interfere with
transport mechanisms such as inhibition of the accumulation of anions,
amino acids, or glucose into the tissues of thyroid, kidney, small
intestine, etc. There can be effects on membrane activity and membrane
enzymes. This might provide inactivation of magnesium, sodium,
potassium, and possibly even ATPase. All of these require intact
membranes in order to function properly. Certain of these toxins can
liberate calcium from muscle fibers and produce tetany.
Some plants share some of these membrane toxins. An example is
mistletoe which is a parasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae. Mistletoe
toxins are very basic, and they have an isoelectric point of about pH11.
They are very stable, and heating an ocular solution to 100 °C for thirty
minutes has no influence on their toxicity. This mistletoe toxin consists
of 46 amino acids in the peptide chain, cross-linked by three disulfides.
These toxins in low concentration of ten micrograms per milliliter will
produce depolarization and contraction in rabbit papillary and frog
skeletal muscles, and the effects can be reversed by calcium. So it is
suggested that the toxins bind to the cell membrane, and thus displace
calcium.
Let us proceed to analyze some of the different toxins provided by
different venoms. One is crotoxin which is the main neurotoxin of the
South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. This is a very
powerful toxin which affects certain neurons and muscular structure.
Specifically, the toxin from this snake produces problems in the neck
and can contribute to nuchal rigidity. This has caused the South
American rattlesnake to be called the “neck breaker,” because of its effect
on neck muscles. Homeopathic crotoxin has been used quite successfully
on neck and cervical conditions.
The Australian tiapan, Oxyuranus scutellatus has extremely potent
venom. It exhibits a low phospholipase activity, and has an effect similar
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