Potent Activity of Venom from a Single Captive-Bred Bitis rhinoceros Specimen Against Planktonic Clinical MRSA and Early Biofilm Development.
10 affiliations
- 1Clinical Microbiology Department, Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
- 2University of Alcalá, Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Research Institute in Chemistry 'Andrés M. del Río' (IQAR; UAH), Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
- 3University of Alcalá, Department of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
- 4Grupo Atrox, Pabellón del Veneno, Faunia, 28032 Madrid, Spain.
- 5ViberTOX, Grupo de Trabajo Especializado en el Tratamiento y Seguimiento de Mordeduras por Víboras en España (Clínica Humana y Veterinaria), Madrid, Spain.
- 6Internal Medicine Department, Fundación Jiménez Díaz and Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
- 7Master's Degree in Tropical Medicine and International Health, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
- 8University of Alcalá, Department of Systems Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
- 9Evolutionary and Translational Venomics Laboratory, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 46010 Valencia, Spain.
- 10Centro Antitóxico, Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses, 28232 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
Background: Antimicrobial resistance represents a major global health threat, particularly due to the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Snake venoms have emerged as promising sources of bioactive molecules with potential antimicrobial applications. However, their activity against clinical MRSA isolates and bacterial biofilms remains insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated the antibacterial, biofilm formation inhibitory, and hemocompatibility properties of venom obtained from a captive-bred Bitis rhinoceros specimen against S. aureus strains and clinical MRSA isolates. Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC), minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC), and biofilm formation inhibition assays were performed. In addition, direct and indirect hemolytic and hemagglutinating activities were evaluated to assess venom selectivity and biocompatibility. Results: Proteomic characterization revealed that the venom proteome is dominated by C-type lectin-like proteins (46.7%), with minor contributions from PIII snake venom metalloproteinase, phospholipase A₂, and L-amino acid oxidase toxin families. B. rhinoceros venom exhibited potent bactericidal activity against planktonic S. aureus cells, with minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values ranging from 4 to 16 mg/L. Notably, the two clinical MRSA isolates showed lower values than the reference strain, although this observation should be interpreted with caution given the limited number of isolates tested. The venom also strongly inhibited biofilm formation at the concentrations tested, with inhibition exceeding 97% and remaining statistically significant across all three strains and MIC multiples when analyzed at the level of the independent experiment (n = 3; paired t-test, Benjamini-Hochberg-adjusted p < 0.001), although limited activity was observed against preformed mature biofilms. Hemocompatibility assays demonstrated low direct and indirect hemolytic activity together with favorable selectivity indices against bacterial cells. Conclusions: These findings suggest that captive-bred B. rhinoceros venom may represent a promising source of antimicrobial compounds against planktonic MRSA infections and early-stage biofilm development. The favorable hemocompatibility profile supports its potential applicability as a topical antimicrobial candidate. Nevertheless, this study is a proof of concept and, therefore, further assays are required to isolate and functionally characterize the specific venom fractions responsible for the antimicrobial activity.
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BibTeX
@article{hernandogozalo2026potent,
title = {{Potent Activity of Venom from a Single Captive-Bred Bitis rhinoceros Specimen Against Planktonic Clinical MRSA and Early Biofilm Development.}},
author = {Marcos Hernando-Gozalo and Patricia Mayo-Magro and Carlos Rescalvo-Casas and Álvaro Camina-Vega and Laura Prieto-Pérez and Javier Durán-Camarón and Jordi Tena-Garcés and Juan J Calvete and Emilio Mencías-Rodríguez and José Luis Méndez-García and Juan Cuadros-González and Ramón Pérez-Tanoira},
journal = {Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/antibiotics15100984},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42938725},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Potent Activity of Venom from a Single Captive-Bred Bitis rhinoceros Specimen Against Planktonic Clinical MRSA and Early Biofilm Development.
AU - Marcos Hernando-Gozalo
AU - Patricia Mayo-Magro
AU - Carlos Rescalvo-Casas
AU - Álvaro Camina-Vega
AU - Laura Prieto-Pérez
AU - Javier Durán-Camarón
AU - Jordi Tena-Garcés
AU - Juan J Calvete
AU - Emilio Mencías-Rodríguez
AU - José Luis Méndez-García
AU - Juan Cuadros-González
AU - Ramón Pérez-Tanoira
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/antibiotics15100984
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42938725
AB - Background: Antimicrobial resistance represents a major global health threat, particularly due to the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Snake venoms have emerged as promising sources of bioactive molecules with potential antimicrobial applications. However, their activity against clinical MRSA isolates and bacterial biofilms remains insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated the antibacterial, biofilm formation inhibitory, and hemocompatibility properties of venom obtained from a captive-bred Bitis rhinoceros specimen against S. aureus strains and clinical MRSA isolates. Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC), minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC), and biofilm formation inhibition assays were performed. In addition, direct and indirect hemolytic and hemagglutinating activities were evaluated to assess venom selectivity and biocompatibility. Results: Proteomic characterization revealed that the venom proteome is dominated by C-type lectin-like proteins (46.7%), with minor contributions from PIII snake venom metalloproteinase, phospholipase A₂, and L-amino acid oxidase toxin families. B. rhinoceros venom exhibited potent bactericidal activity against planktonic S. aureus cells, with minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values ranging from 4 to 16 mg/L. Notably, the two clinical MRSA isolates showed lower values than the reference strain, although this observation should be interpreted with caution given the limited number of isolates tested. The venom also strongly inhibited biofilm formation at the concentrations tested, with inhibition exceeding 97% and remaining statistically significant across all three strains and MIC multiples when analyzed at the level of the independent experiment (n = 3; paired t-test, Benjamini-Hochberg-adjusted p < 0.001), although limited activity was observed against preformed mature biofilms. Hemocompatibility assays demonstrated low direct and indirect hemolytic activity together with favorable selectivity indices against bacterial cells. Conclusions: These findings suggest that captive-bred B. rhinoceros venom may represent a promising source of antimicrobial compounds against planktonic MRSA infections and early-stage biofilm development. The favorable hemocompatibility profile supports its potential applicability as a topical antimicrobial candidate. Nevertheless, this study is a proof of concept and, therefore, further assays are required to isolate and functionally characterize the specific venom fractions responsible for the antimicrobial activity.
SN - 2079-6382
ER -