Cytotoxic Activities of the Crude Venoms of Macrovipera lebetina lebetina from Cyprus and M. l. obtusa from Turkey (Serpentes: Viperidae) on Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Abstract

In this study, we used human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) as an in vitro model to compare the cytotoxic activities of the venoms of two Macrovipera lebetina subspecies, M. l. obtusa from southern Anatolia and M. l. lebetina from northern Cyprus. Well-established 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was preferred to assess the cytotoxicity. Our results showed that venom reduced cell viability both in a time and dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxic effect of M. l. lebetina venom on HUVEC is reported for the first time in the present study.