Occurrence of glycoproteins in various snake venoms.

Abstract Bound carbohydrates contents in 15 snake venoms were examined. All of the venoms contained large amounts of bound carbohydrates, including hexoses, hexosamine and sialic acid. The highest content was seen in Bitis gabonica venom, approximately 11.8 per cent of its dry weight. The venoms of Elapidae contained relatively small amounts of bound carbohydrates comparing with the venoms of Viperidae or Crotalidae. The composition of carbohydrates generally consisted of galactose, mannose, fucose, glucosamine and sialic acid. However, the ratio of carbohydrate constituents in individual venom were quite different from each other, suggesting the presence of several types of glycoproteins.