In South America there are three snake genera with predominantly neurotoxic venoms: Crotalus, Micrurus and Hydrophis, which include nine species/subspecies, 97 species and a single marine species, respectively. Although accidents with neurotoxic venoms are less frequent than those with anticoagulant, cytotoxic or necrotic venoms (e.g. from Bothrops), they are of major public health importance. Venoms from genus Crotalus have been extensively studied, while data on the venoms from the other two genera are very limited, especially for Hydrophis.

The venoms of North and South American Crotalus species show biochemical and physiopathological differences. The former species cause bothrops-like envenomation symptoms, while the latter mainly have neurotoxic and myotoxic effects, leading to respiratory paralysis and, occasionally, renal failure by myoglobinuria and death, often with no local lesions. Micrurus and Hydrophis also cause neurotoxic envenomations.

Many studies have isolated, identified and characterized new enzymes and toxins, thus expanding the knowledge of snake venom composition.

The present review summarizes the currently available information on neurotoxic venoms from South American snakes, with a focus on protein composition and toxicological properties. It also includes some comments concerning potential medical applications of elapid and crotalic toxins.

在南美洲，主要有神经毒性毒液的三种蛇属：响尾蛇属、Micrurus 属和Hydrophis 属，分别包括 9 个物种/亚种、97 个物种和一个海洋物种。尽管神经毒性毒液的事故发生率低于抗凝剂、细胞毒性或坏死性毒液（例如来自Bothrops 的毒液），但它们对公共卫生具有重大意义。来自Crotalus属的毒液已被广泛研究，而来自其他两个属的毒液的数据非常有限，尤其是Hydrophis。

北美和南美响尾蛇物种的毒液显示出生化和病理生理差异。前一种会引起类似蜂毒的毒液中毒症状，而后一种主要具有神经毒性和肌毒性作用，导致呼吸麻痹，偶尔因肌红蛋白尿导致肾功能衰竭和死亡，通常没有局部病变。Micrurus和Hydrophis也会引起神经毒性毒液。

许多研究已经分离、鉴定和表征了新的酶和毒素，从而扩展了对蛇毒成分的认识。

本综述总结了目前关于南美蛇神经毒性毒液的可用信息，重点是蛋白质组成和毒理学特性。它还包括一些关于 elapid 和 crotalic 毒素潜在医学应用的评论。