Toad Venom, called
chansu (CS) in China, is an anti-inflammatory
drug used in small doses for the treatment of various types of
inflammation in China. Its use is hampered by the
cardiotoxicity of
bufadienolides derived from
Toad Venom.
Bezoar Bovis is another frequently used
drug in
Toad Venom preparations for the treatment of inflammatory or
cardiovascular diseases in Asia. We explored whether
Bezoar Bovis could protect against CS-induced acute toxicity in mice. Toxicity was assessed by the general features of
poisoning, electrocardiography (ECG), and levels of
creatine kinase (CK),
lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and
calcium ions (Ca(2+)) in cardiac tissues.
Toad Venom (90 mg/kg) caused opisthotonus, ventricular arrhythmias, and increases in cardiac levels of Ca(2+), CK and LDH. Pretreatment with
Bezoar Bovis (120, 240 and 480 mg/kg) significantly reduced the prevalence of opisthotonus and mortality, and prevented
cardiotoxicity in CS-treated mice as evidenced by decreases in the scores of arrhythmias and cardiac levels of CK, LDH and Ca(2+). Furthermore, the
bilirubin, and
taurine derived from
Bezoar Bovis offered marked protection against the arrhythmias induced by CS or
bufalin in vivo and in vitro. An anti-inflammatory study showed that
Bezoar Bovis did not compromise the anti-inflammatory activity of
Toad Venom on
concanavalin-A (ConA)-stimulated proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results suggested that
Bezoar Bovis elicited protective and
anti-arrhythmic effects against
Toad Venom intoxication in mice, and is a novel
antidote in combination with
Toad Venom therapy.