TY - JOUR

T1 - Medically important snakes and snakebite envenoming in Iran

AU - Dehghani, Rouhullah

AU - Monzavi, Seyed Mostafa

AU - Mehrpour, Omid

AU - Shirazi, Farshad M.

AU - Hassanian-Moghaddam, Hossein

AU - Keyler, Daniel E.

AU - Wüster, Wolfgang

AU - Westerström, Alexander

AU - Warrell, David A.

PY - 2023/5/23

Y1 - 2023/5/23

N2 - Snakebite is a relatively common health condition in Iran with a diverse snake fauna, especially in tropical southern and mountainous western areas of the country with a plethora of snake species. The list of medically important snakes, circumstances and effects of their bite, and necessary medical care require critical appraisal and should be updated regularly. This study aims to review and map the distributions of medically important snake species of Iran, re-evaluate their taxonomy, review their venomics, describe the clinical effects of enve- noming, and discuss medical management and treatment, including the use of antivenom. Nearly 350 published articles and 26 textbooks with information on venomous and mildly venomous snake species and snakebites of Iran, were reviewed, many in Persian (Farsi) language, making them relatively inaccessible to an international readership. This has resulted in a revised updated list of Iran’s medically important snake species, with taxo- nomic revisions of some, compilation of their morphological features, remapping of their geographical distri- butions, and description of species-specific clinical effects of envenoming. Moreover, the antivenom manufactured in Iran is discussed, together with treatment protocols that have been developed for the hospital management of envenomed patients.

AB - Snakebite is a relatively common health condition in Iran with a diverse snake fauna, especially in tropical southern and mountainous western areas of the country with a plethora of snake species. The list of medically important snakes, circumstances and effects of their bite, and necessary medical care require critical appraisal and should be updated regularly. This study aims to review and map the distributions of medically important snake species of Iran, re-evaluate their taxonomy, review their venomics, describe the clinical effects of enve- noming, and discuss medical management and treatment, including the use of antivenom. Nearly 350 published articles and 26 textbooks with information on venomous and mildly venomous snake species and snakebites of Iran, were reviewed, many in Persian (Farsi) language, making them relatively inaccessible to an international readership. This has resulted in a revised updated list of Iran’s medically important snake species, with taxo- nomic revisions of some, compilation of their morphological features, remapping of their geographical distri- butions, and description of species-specific clinical effects of envenoming. Moreover, the antivenom manufactured in Iran is discussed, together with treatment protocols that have been developed for the hospital management of envenomed patients.

KW - Iran

KW - Elapidae

KW - Hydrophiini

KW - Viperidae

KW - Snakebites

KW - Antivenoms

U2 - 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107149

DO - 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107149

M3 - Article

VL - 230

JO - Toxicon

JF - Toxicon

SN - 0041-0101

M1 - 107149

ER -