The chick embryo as an effective animal model in testing the toxicological effects of snake venom

The aim of the project will be monitoring of the developmental toxicity of the chick embryos after snake venom injection, expressed specifically during the development of the nervous and cardiovascular system and also during the liver development, which plays a major role in biotransformation and excretion of toxins from the body. The injection of the relevant concentration of venom will be applied on membrane papyracea, which receives an equal distribution of toxins in an egg. For comparison purposes of the results, the following phase of the project will be aimed at intraamnial application. To achieve the trustworthy results of the project, biochemical, histological, immunohistochemical, quantitative colorimetric methods, and morphometric methods will be used to provide mutually complementing sophisticated, reliable results. The conclusions of the project will be important for subsequent epidemiological studies of developmental neurotoxicity and cytotoxicity in humans.