Artemia salina as an animal model for the preliminary evaluation of snake venom-induced toxicity

Lethality and cytotoxicity assays of snake venoms and their neutralization by antivenom require many mice for the experiments. Recent developments have prompted researchers to seek alternative strategies that minimize the use of mice in line with Russel and Burch's 3Rs philosophy (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement). Artemia salina is an animal model widely used for toxicity screening. However, its use in snake venom toxinology is limited by a lack of data. The present study compared the toxicity of venoms from Bitis arietans, Naja ashei, and Naja subfulva using mice and Artemia salina. In the Artemia salina test at 24 h and the dermonecrotic test in mice, the toxicity of the venoms was in the order Naja ashei ~ Naja subfulva > Bitis arietans. In the lethality test in mice, the toxicity of the venoms was in the order Naja subfulva > Naja ashei > Bitis arietans. These findings suggest that the toxicity of the venoms in Artemia salina and the dermonecrotic bioassay in mice have a similar trend but differ from the lethality test in mice. Therefore, it may be relevant to further explore the Artemia salina bioassay as a potential surrogate test of dermonecrosis in mice. Studies with more venoms may be needed to establish the correlation between the Artemia salina bioassay and the dermonecrotic assay in mice.