Antibacterial Activity and Silico Molecular Prediction of Snake Venoms (Bitis arietans and Naja nigricollis) Against Some Clinical Bacterial Isolates

Over the years, the venoms of various animals have been found to include a variety of antibacterial compounds. One of the greatest challenges of public health is multidrug-resistant bacteria strains which always call for new and potent antibacterial agent to help curb these strains of bacteria. In the quest to source antibacterial agents active against multidrug-resistant bacteria, this research work was designed to investigate the antibacterial activity of crude venoms of B. arietans and N. nigricollis against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. Current studies revealed that Puff adder (Bitis arietans) of the Viperidae family crude venom showed distinct antibacterial activity against the clinical isolates and more efficient than (Naja nigricollis) of Elapidae family as well as tested antibiotics available today. The methods include antibacterial activity screening assay, followed by scanning electron microscope and molecular docking techniques. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for puff adder crude venom was 8 g/ml against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC. However, the MIC for common antibiotics (ampicillin, penicillin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline) was in the range of 8-64 g/ml. The venom of the puff adder (Bitis arietans) exhibited antibacterial action against gram-positive bacteria through the cell wall and membrane damage, according to the results of scanning electron microscopy. The molecular docking established a mechanism of action between venom protein and the ligands in the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria. The result identified high docking energy scores and interacting amino acid residue. Puff adder (Bitis arietans) of the Viperidae family crude venom demonstrates a workable source for investigating antimicrobial prototypes for upcoming novel antibiotics against clinical microorganisms with medication resistance.