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Barietin From Puff Adder Venom Raised Heart Rate by About 30% in Rats

Close-up of a puff adder
Research: Molecular biology & biochemistry, Physiology

Barietin, a protein purified from puff adder (Bitis arietans) venom, produced an unusual cardiovascular response in rats. In a study published online in Toxicon on 25 August 2026, purified barietin increased heart rate by about 30% while changing blood pressure by only about 10%.

Barietin belongs to the snake-venom vascular endothelial growth factors, or svVEGFs. These venom proteins are related to VEGF molecules that regulate blood vessels in vertebrates. Most known svVEGFs are associated with vasodilation, increased vessel permeability and a marked fall in blood pressure. Barietin differs structurally from other members of the family because the C-terminal end — the final part of the protein chain — is shorter.

The researchers also tested whether a smaller part of barietin might reproduce the heart-rate effect. They synthesised a short peptide — a small protein fragment — based on loop 1, a region related to VEGF-receptor interaction in mammalian VEGF. The peptide showed the same general tendency — increased heart rate with little blood-pressure change — but the effect was not as clearly supported as the response to the complete barietin protein.

The authors therefore describe barietin as the first known snake-venom VEGF to increase heart rate without substantially lowering blood pressure. The experiment tested purified barietin and its synthetic fragment in rats, so the result identifies a physiological property of this venom component rather than the overall effect of a natural puff-adder bite.

Sources and image credit

  1. Severyukhina, M. S., et al. (2026). Barietin, a snake venom vascular endothelial growth factor from puff adder Bitis arietans venom, increases the heart rate with minor effect on blood pressure in rats. Toxicon, 109275.Primary peer-reviewed study published online 25 August 2026. Purified barietin increased heart rate by about 30% in rats while blood pressure changed by about 10%. A synthetic loop-1 peptide showed a similar directional tendency without a significant blood-pressure effect.

Image: Bernard Dupont — wild Puff Adder on the H1-3 road south of Satara, Kruger National Park, South Africa, 11 December 2013. Source: Wikimedia Commons / Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0. Representative species image; not a study animal. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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Molecular biology & biochemistry

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