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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.

Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery

This article is part of the Research TopicStrategic Drug Development for Rare and Underexplored DiseasesView all 6 articles

Preliminary Evaluation of a Monovalent Antivenom Targeting Cerastes cerastes Envenomation in North Africa: Feasibility and Specificity Assessment

Provisionally accepted
Nihal MesmoudiNihal Mesmoudi1,2*Salma ChakirSalma Chakir1,3Khawla AmmouchKhawla Ammouch1,2Reda ChahirReda Chahir1,3Hinde AassilaHinde Aassila3Abdellah MoustaghfirAbdellah Moustaghfir2Mehdi KARKOURIMehdi KARKOURI4Naoual OukkacheNaoual Oukkache1*
  • 1Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco
  • 2Universite Mohammed V de Rabat Faculte de Medecine Dentaire de Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
  • 3Laboratoire de Recherche en Agroalimentaire et Santé, Universite Hassan 1er Faculte des Sciences et Techniques Settat, Settat, Morocco
  • 4Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ibn Rochd, Casablanca, Morocco

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In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized snakebite envenomation as a neglected disease yet the therapeutic effectiveness efficacy of available antivenoms remains insufficiently explored. This study offers a detailed analysis of Cerastes cerastes venom, focusing its toxicological properties and the development of specific targeted neutralizing antibodies. Through rigorous quality control and comprehensive efficacy testing, the antivenom demonstrated significant neutralizing activity against critical venom components, including hemorrhagic, edema-forming, and myotoxic effects while also mitigating tissue damage. Histological investigations further corroborated the antivenom's protective capacity. These findings not only underscore the potential of the developed antivenom for clinical use but also provide essential insights for advancing antivenom production, refining its specificity, and enhancing its therapeutic efficacy in managing snake envenomations.

Keywords: Cerastes cerastes, hemorrhagic effects, Histological analysis, neutralizing antibodies, snakeenvenomation

Received: 06 Oct 2025; Accepted: 30 Jan 2026.

Copyright: © 2026 Mesmoudi, Chakir, Ammouch, Chahir, Aassila, Moustaghfir, KARKOURI and Oukkache. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Nihal Mesmoudi
Naoual Oukkache

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material