To study the inhibitory effects of ethanol extract of

Desmodium microphyllum

on

Deinagkistrodon acutus

venom. The venom was incubated with the ethanol extract at different ratios at 37 ℃ for 30 min

the inhibitory effects of the extract on major enzymes activities of

D. acutus

venom were then measured in vitro and the neutralizing capacities to the venom were evaluated in vivo. The activities of proteolytic enzyme

phospholipase A

2

hyaluronidase and fibrinogenolytic enzyme were inhibited significantly

and the activities of hemorrhage

edema and tissue necrosis as well as lethal potency were neutralized obviously

all of which presented inhibitory effects in a dose-dependent manner. The study showed for the first time that the activities of

D. acutus

venom could be inhibited by the extract from

D. microphyllum

which provided a theoretical basis for the application of

D. microphyllum

in the treatment of snakebite.