Russell Viper Venom (RVV) is widely used as a diagnostic test for antiphospholipid
syndrome (APS). But the history of how this venom came to be discovered is well known.
Dr Patrick Russell is responsible for the identification of the venom during his work
on snake bites in India while Dr Robert Macfarlane used it to staunch bleeding in
persons with haemophilia. The ability to directly activate factor X led RVV to the
laboratory diagnosis of APS. More recently, it has come back to clinical world with
a potential for an engineered factor X activator from RVV to be used in the treatment
of haemophilia.
Keywords
Russel Viper Venom - snake bite casualties - hemophilia
