Venom of Heloderma suspectum, known as the Gila monster, can cause what rare but severe effect?
Heloderma toxin contains gilatoxin, a serine protease with kallikrein activity, thought to be responsible for the hypotension and angioedema that has been reported in some human envenomations.
Utaisincharoen P, et al. Complete primary structure and biochemical properties of gilatoxin, a serine protease with kallikrein-like and angiotensin-degrading activities. J Biol Chem. 1993;268:21975–21983.
Contributed by: Catherine Dong, MD
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