Author(s): Jacques Ngambongo , Juvénal Mupende Melabel and Thaddée Odio Wobin
Tropical and equatorial Africa is a paradise for the herpetologist. Many species of reptiles are present, but often difficult to discover and observe [1]. With an area of 2,345,095 km2 and crossed by lakes, rivers, forests (equatorial and tropical) and savannas, the Democratic Republic of Congo has several geozoological zones that are near 168 species of snakes. In addition to these reptiles, Congolese forests and savannas are home to many other poisonous animals such as scorpions, ants, bees, etc. The venoms of all these animals are rich sources of biomolecules. Currently, only 0.01% of the 40 million toxins estimated in nature are characterized [2]. But it is paradoxical to note that despite its rich biodiversity in poisonous animals, the Democratic Republic of Congo has no internal researchers interested in work on venoms. However, this sector is booming in the 21st century and offers particularly fertile opportunities for medical research and modern therapeutics. It is in this context that we are interested in studying the biochemical composition of the venoms of certain snakes, in this case Puff Adder and African Bush Viper. These two vipers are typically African [3, 4] and populate the Congolese ophidian fauna. The first is terricolous but the second is arboreal. In the past, herpetologists used the morphology of snakes for their classification. But currently, we are using more and more genetic codes of these reptiles. Chemists and biochemists, for their part, try to use appropriate analytical techniques for the identification and characterization of the constituents of venoms in order to discover the molecules of interest but also to facilitate the work of the systematicians.
