Pharmaceutical composition and method of treatment utilizing the composition

An anti-venom composition comprising extracts of active components of the plants Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco combined at effective ratios; the method of preparing this composition; the pharmaceutical products derived of said extracts of active components; and a method of treating snakebites, scorpion stinging and the like using said composition.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention refers to a anti-venom composition comprising highly 
concentrated extracts of active components of the plants Abelmoscus 
moschatus and Mikania guaco combined at effective ratios; the method of 
preparing the composition; the pharmaceutical products derived of said 
extracts of active components; and the method of use of said composition 
for treating snakebites, scorpion stingings and the like. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Currently available methods of treating bites or stingings of poisonous 
animals go from the most rudimentary, as making a rush incision and prompt 
suction of lethal amounts of the venom inoculated, up to those more 
sophisticated methods, as administering previous prepared serum, which 
usually is specific to the venom under consideration. 
The above referred type of serums are generally prepared by injecting the 
venom of a given snake, for example, into horses and extracting the 
anti-venom produced therefrom from the horse serum. 
One of the several disadvantages of this kind of anti-venoms is that said 
serum may be highly toxic to people who suffer from allergy against the 
antibodies contained by this serum. 
Other drawback of these kind of anti-venoms consists on the fact that 
serums prepared according to the above referred method are usually very 
specific, that is to say, they are useful only against the particular 
venom from which said serum was developed and generally not against any 
other venom. 
Besides, administration of these serums must always be by intravenous trip, 
which makes more difficult its use when there is nobody with the needed 
skills to administer the anti-venom serum to the victim of the snakebite 
or scorpion stinging, for example. 
Due to the above, the field of application of said anti-venoms has been 
considerably restricted in view of the fact that, on one hand, certain 
persons do not accept the serum and some times they die, if not of the 
venom injected by the animal, by the allergic shock caused by the serum 
itself; and, on the other hand, due to its specificity and the knowledge 
and skills needed to administer the serum. 
Seeking solutions to drawbacks showed by the above referred anti-venoms a 
wide variety of compositions of natural origin has been formulated as 
attempts to prevent fatalities when persons suffer the bite or stinging of 
a venomous animal such as snakes, scorpions and the like. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,546 issued to Vicario-Arcos on Feb. 4, 1986 teaches an 
anti-venom composition comprising an ethyl alcohol infusion of plants red 
cinchona, curcuma root, aloes, saffron, white agaric, nutmeg, manna, 
gencian, orange blossom, fhubarb and cinnamon, together with an amount of 
iron filings. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,724 issued to J. W. Agoro on Nov. 7, 1978 discloses the 
use of active factors in the roots of the plants Berkheya spekeana and 
Echinops amplexicaulis, namely crystalline caffeic acid derivatives, as 
anti-snake venom. 
An important point to be considered in compositions of natural origin is 
the content of other materials usually accompanying active components and 
which materials may have side effects on victims of poisonous animals. 
According to the present invention a pharmaceutical composition of natural 
origin has been developed. This composition does not exhibit side effects 
derived from materials other than the active components of the plants from 
which the composition is obtained. 
Also this pharmaceutical composition is not limited by any reduced 
specificity but it is applicable to a wide variety of venoms produced by 
poisonous animals. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composition 
comprising extracts of active components of plants Abelmoscus moschatus 
and Mikania guaco, useful against venoms of poisonous animals. 
It is one another object of the present invention to provide a 
pharmaceutical composition of natural origin which does not produce any 
allergic shock derived from others components of plants used, and which is 
very effective against the effects of venoms when administered at 
pharmaceutically acceptable ratios to victims of poisonous animals. 
Even another object of the present invention is to provide a composition of 
strict natural origin having not antibodies which may cause lateral 
reactions when said composition is given to victims of poisonous animals. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a composition 
suitable to be administered orally and which is quickly assimilated by 
mammalian organisms to develop its action against activity of venoms of 
poisonous animals. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composition of 
pharmaceutical products comprised in extracts of active components of 
plants Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco, which make possible to be 
combined at effective ratios without developing lateral reactions when 
said composition is used to treat victims of bites or stingings of 
venomous animals. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a method of 
treating mammalians with the above composition so that lethal effects of 
venous inoculated by snakes, scorpions and the like can be anulled. 
These objects and others ancilliary thereto are preferably accomplished as 
follows: 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The present invention provides a composition of extracts of active 
components of the plants Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco combined 
at effective ratios and which is preferably obtained by liquid-solid 
extraction methods with suitable solvents as ether, alcohol and water. 
Each of the above referred extracts is obtained by methods independent one 
of each other. Then said extracts are combined at effective ratios in 
order to obtain a pharmaceutical composition comprising effective amounts 
of active components suitable to be administered through the oral route. 
According to a highly preferred embodiment of this invention the method of 
preparation of the composition is as follows: 
On one hand, seeds, leaves and/or stems of Abelmoscus moschatus plant are 
crushed and submerged in a suitable solvent as, for example, ethyl 
alcohol. Extraction of active components is accelerated by vigorous 
stirring the mixture for a certain period of time after which the liquid 
is filtered through conventional methods. 
On the other hand, stems, leaves and/or roots of Mikania guaco plant are 
properly crushed and submerged in water, preferably purified water. The 
temperature of the mixture is increased up to the boiling point and it is 
kept at said point during the time needed to extract the active 
components; after said time heating is suspended and the mixture is taken 
up to room temperature. The liquid is filtered and the solid is discarded. 
Once prepared, the above extracts are combined at effective ratios bearing 
in mind the grading of the resulting composition in terms of Gay Lussac 
grades of alcohol. 
The term "effective ratios" means all those ratios at which active 
components of plants Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco plants 
provided by extracts are sufficient to annul lethal effects of venoms 
produced and inoculated by poisonous animals to mammalians. 
The term "active components" means all those components of the plants 
Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco whose activity in mammaliam 
organisms nullifies lethal activity of venoms inoculated to said organisms 
by poisonous animals. 
The alcoholic-aqueous pharmaceutical composition prepared according to the 
above technique has been found to be absolutely effective against venom of 
poisonous animals as, for example, nauyaque snake (Botrops atrox) and 
rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus), scorpions, spiders, vesps and 
bees. 
Other advantages of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention 
are: it is not required refrigeration to keep the activity and 
effectiveness of this composition, it is administered through the oral 
route, it has no lateral effects, its action is faster than that of 
anti-venom serums, its effectiveness is not limited to a particular venom 
of poisonous animals, and it has no caducity. 
The recommended dose is a function of weight of victim, preferably it is 
recommended to give two doses of 10 to 35 ml, separated by 5 minutes one 
from each other.

The present invention will be more fully understood by means of the 
following examples which are given as illustrative but not as limitative 
of the scope of the invention. 
EXAMPLE 1 
An extract of active components was prepared by grinding 1,000 g of seeds 
of Abelmoscus moschatus plant in a manual mill up to obtaining a powder of 
substantially the same size of grain, approximately 2 mm. The powder was 
added to a five-liter container provided with stirring means and having 
3,000 ml of ethyl alcohol, 96 degrees of purity. The mixture was put under 
an strong and continuous stirring for approximately 60 minutes at 10-30 
centigrades degrees. The solid residue was separated apart from the liquid 
by conventionals techniques of filtration. The liquid obtained was divided 
into two portions which were marked each as first extract and were allowed 
to stand during 12 hours at room temperature. 
EXAMPLE 2 
An extract of active components was prepared by crushing 50 g of steam of 
Mikania guaco plant in an electric mill up to obtaining a substantially 
pulverulent material. The powder was added to a two-liter container 
provided with stirring and heating means and having 1,250 ml of drinkable 
water. The mixture was homogenized and put under continuous stirring, the 
temperature was increased up to the boiling point and the mixture was kept 
for 90 minutes under said temperature after which said mixture was allowed 
to cool up to room temperature. The solid residue was separated apart from 
the liquid by centrifugation and the liquid obtained was divided into two 
portions which were marked each as second extract. 
EXAMPLE 3 
A pharmaceutical composition of extracts of active components of the plants 
Abelmoscus moschatus and Mikania guaco was prepared by combining effective 
amounts of the above first and second extracts as follows: portions of the 
first and second extracts were taken and combined by mixing two parts of 
the first extract with one part of the second extract. Care was taken to 
assure that grading of the resulting composition was of 25 Gay Lussac 
grades at 15 centigrade degrees. 
EXAMPLE 4 
Four dogs received nauyaque snake venom and three were treated as follows: 
First dog: male, black color, weighing approximately 15 Kg, not visible 
symptoms of illness, age two years. 
Second dog: male, white color, weighing approximately 12 Kg, not visible 
symptoms of illness, age two years. 
Third dog: male, yellow color, weighing approximately 14 Kg, not visible 
symptoms of illness, age two years. 
Fourth dog: male, brown color, weighing approximately 14 Kg, not visible 
symptoms of illness, age two and a half years. 
An sterile suspension of nauyaque snake venom was prepared in chemically 
pure and neutral glycerin during three days in stove at 37 centigrade 
degrees. 
14:00 hrs., each of the above dogs was subcutaneously injected on the 
left-hand rear member an amount of venom enough to kill in 22 hours (hrs.) 
25 Kg of live canine weight, at a rate of 4 mg of venom per Kg. 
14:15 hrs., to the first dog was given through the oral route 20 ml of 
extract prepared according to the Example 1; to the second dog was given 
through the oral route 20 ml of extract prepared according to the Example 
2; to the third dog was given 20 ml of the composition prepared according 
to the Example 3; and the fourth dog received no venom and was taken as 
the control dog. 
For briefness symptoms and behavior of the first dog will only be given in 
this Example. Initial local symptoms, intense pain at the left-hand rear 
member; ptialism, which ceased half an hour after the administration of 
the extract. 14:30 hrs., temperature 39.8 centigrade degrees (c.d.), pulse 
14, breathing 25; vomiting of the contents of the stomach, moans. 18:00 
hrs., dog in calm, temperature decreased to 39 c.d., pulse 12, breathing 
18. 8:00 hrs. of the following day, the dog was intramuscularly injected 2 
ml of extract prepared according to the Example 1 but using ether instead 
of alcohol. 11:00 hrs., temperature 39 c.d., pulse 11, breathing 16. The 
swelling of the left-hand rear member had enlarged to a great extend and 
the inner face showed a cyanotic aspect. 13:00 hrs., temperature 24.4 
c.d., breathing 32, pulse 11, the dog moans and shows the tongue at 
intervals, which appears flawy. 13:30 hrs., the inner face of the 
left-hand rear member drains off an odorless, mucous consistence, wine 
color liquid. 14:00 hrs., the dog is taken to a clean well ventilated cage 
and was administered nothing else. After five days the dog was completely 
healthy. 
The third dog was completely healthy after the third day of administration 
of the anti-venom composition. The second and fourth dogs died, the second 
28 hours after the injection of the venom and the fourth 22 hours after 
the injection of the venom. 
EXAMPLE 5 
Following the techniques of Examples 1 through 4 thirty further tests were 
run. The following results were obtained: one dog out of ten dogs treated 
with an aqueous extract prepared according to the Example 2 survived to 
the injection of the venom and recovered its healthy condition. Three dogs 
out of ten dogs treated with an ethereal extract prepared according to the 
Example 1 survived to the injection of the venom and recovered their 
healthy condition. These aqueous and ethereal extracts were 
intramuscularly administered to the dogs. Ten dogs out of ten dogs treated 
with an hydro-alcoholic extract prepared according to the Example 3 and 
administered to the dogs through the oral route survived to the injection 
of the venom and recovered their healthy condition. 
EXAMPLE 6 
Narration of a real experience of the inventor. 
In an attempt to obtain serpent's fresh venom the inventor went to the 
natural habitat of nauyaque snakes. First day of the searching, 
approximately at 10:00 hrs. the inventor is making way on the grass and 
suffered a nauyaque snakebite on the last interphalanges joint of the 
right-hand pinky. After searching among plants an approximately 1.50-mt 
long nauyaque snake (Botrops atrox) was found curled on surrounding 
bushes. A tight tourniquet was placed on the inventor's right-hand wrist. 
Since the beginning pain was intense and in a few minutes it spread out to 
the full arm and the right-hand leg. 10 minutes after the bite, vomiting 
started accompanied with abundant secretion of bloody saliva. Urinate and 
defecate desired appeared. A general weakness accompanied with abundant 
sweating and uncontrollable tremor overwhelmed the inventor. 45 minutes 
after the bite the inventor was given through the oral route 20 ml of 
hydro-alcoholic composition substantially prepared according to the 
Example 3, which composition was vomited almost immediately. A second 20 
ml dose of the above composition was given to the inventor and the 
tourniquet was removed. Weakness and ears ringing persisted. Vomiting and 
sweating ceased. The inventor remained sleeping up to the 22:00 hours time 
in which he was waked up and a 10 ml dose of the above referred extract 
was given through the oral route. Weakness persisted but a perfect 
conscious state existed while in vigil. At 14:00 hrs. of the second day 
the inventor was hungry and ate tea and boiled potatoes with no further 
doses of the above composition. 10 days after the snakebite recovery of 
inventor was full and complete. 
Although certain specific embodiments of the present invention have been 
shown and described, it is to be understood that other modifications 
thereof are possible without separating of the essence and scope of the 
invention. This invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except 
insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the 
appended claims.