Procoagulants and Anticoagulants

You may be wondering what is the intent of this montage combining images of brown snake fangs, a bloody hand and dried venom? Nothing specifically, but text on its own is boring.

There have been several snakebites reported recently on social media in people working with snakes. At least one was from brown snake (genus Pseudonaja – venom includes procoagulants), and another from mulga snake (Pseudechis – venom includes anticoagulants). It is clear when reading those accounts that the victims at the time experienced some psychological trauma.

I suspect this emotional reaction is contributed to by our exposure to the exaggerated negative aspects of snakebite reported in the news media that often includes inaccurate information about antivenom, comparative venom toxicities, treatment, long term negatives of envenomation and so on. Contributing to this are those shows where venom is introduced to liquid blood, which quickly clots and, talk about scary, “… turns the blood to the consistency of toothpaste.” Fortunately, the snakebite victim’s blood does not respond this way.

Regarding the terms ‘procoagulants’ and ‘anticoagulants’ - the reader can be forgiven for believing the first mentioned causes clotting and the second causes bleeding, however that is not the case as both cause bleeding. Confusing as the first toxin’s name is, procoagulants (found in brown snake, taipan and tiger snake venom groups) work by triggering part of the coagulation process which exhausts the blood’s ability to form clots, resulting in a venom-induced consumption coagulopathy.

If accurate information was widely circulated about snakebites when reporting specific cases, it may lessen our fear of them and any associated predisposition for psychosomatic responses in snakebite victims.