Bothrops moojeni venom kills Leishmania spp. with hydrogen peroxide generated by its L-amino acid oxidase.
Leishmaniasis is an endemic tropical disease in South America, with few therapeutic approaches. Snake venoms are complex protein mixtures with biological actions that could be used as tools for drug development. Here we show that Bothrops moojeni crude venom presented a killing effect in vitro against Leishmania spp. promastigotes, but not with amastigotes, as determined by a viability assay using the mitochondrial oxidative function. Purification of active fractions from crude venom was performed by molecular exclusion and ion exchange chromatography. Anti-Leishmania and l-amino acid oxidase (L-AAO, EC.1.4.3.2.) activities co-eluted in the same fractions. The molecular weight of the active enzyme was estimated to be 140 kDa by molecular exclusion chromatography, and 69 kDa by SDS--PAGE, with a 4.8 isoelectric point. Using substrate subtraction and catalase for scavenging, the action of L-AAO was demonstrated to be hydrogen-peroxide-dependent.