Cobras kill thousands of people each year around the world and perhaps a hundred thousand more are severely maimed by necrosis (death of body cells and tissues) caused by the venom, which can lead to death. ‘amputation.
The current antidote remedy is expensive and does not treat the necrosis of the flesh at the site of the bite well.
“Our discovery could specifically reduce the horrific necrosis injuries caused by cobra bites, and it could also slow down the venom, which could affect survival rates,” said Professor Greg Neely, corresponding author of the study from the Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty. at the University of Sydney.
Using CRISPR gene editing technology to identify tactics to block cobra venom, the team, consisting of scientists from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, effectively repurposed heparin (a common anticoagulant) and related drugs and demonstrated It can prevent necrosis caused by cobra bites.
The study is published in the Science Translational Medicine section.
PhD student and lead author Tian Du, also from the University of Sydney, said: “Heparin is inexpensive, everywhere and among the must-have medicines indexed by the World Health Organisation. After a successful human trial, it may be implemented relatively temporarily to become a reasonable drug. Matrix and effective medication to treat cobra bites.
The team used CRISPR to locate the human genes that cobra venom wants to cause necrosis that kills the flesh around the bite. One of the required targets of the venom are the enzymes necessary to produce similar molecules heparan and heparin, which are produced by many human and animal cells. Heparan is discovered on the surface of cells and heparin is released as an immune response. Their similar design means that poison can bind to both. The team used this wisdom to create an antidote that can prevent necrosis in human cells. and mice.
Unlike existing antidotes for cobra bites, which are 19th century technologies, heparinoid drugs act as a “decoy” antidote. By flooding the bite with “decoy” heparin sulfate or similar heparinoid molecules, the antivenin can bind to and neutralize the venom toxins that cause tissue damage.
Associate Professor Nicholas Casewell, director of the Centre for Snakebite Research and Intervention at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: “Snakebites remain the deadliest of the overlooked tropical diseases, and their burden falls heavily on rural communities in low- and middle-level countries. “Aged regions. – Countries that source income.
“Our effects are interesting because existing antivenoms are largely useless against severe local poisonings, which involve progressive and painful swelling, blisters and/or necrosis of the tissues around the bite site. This can lead to loss of function. limb function, amputation and permanent disability. “
Snakebites kill up to 138,000 people a year and 400,000 suffer the long-term consequences of the bite. Although the number of cobras affected is unclear, in parts of India and Africa, cobra species account for the majority of snakebite cases.
The World Health Organization considers snakebites a priority in its program to combat overlooked tropical diseases. The ambitious goal is to halve the burden of snake bites by 2030.
Professor Neely said: “We are now only five years away from reaching this goal. We hope that the new cobra antidote we have discovered can contribute to the global fight to reduce snakebite deaths and injuries in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Working in Dr John and Anne Chong’s Functional Genomics Laboratory at the Charles Perkins Centre, Professor Neely’s team uses a systematic technique to locate drugs to treat fatal or painful poisons. It does this through CRISPR to identify genetic targets used through a poison or toxin in humans and other mammals. He then uses this wisdom to devise tactics to block this interaction and, ideally, protect other people from the fatal moves of those poisons.
This technique was used to identify an antidote to box jellyfish venom through the team in 2019.
Professor Casewell heads the Snakebite Research and Intervention Center at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). The center has carried out a diverse portfolio of research projects to better understand the biology of snake venoms and improve the effectiveness, safety and affordability of antivenin. remedy for those suffering from tropical snake bites for more than 50 years. It is home to some of the world’s leading snakebite experts and has access to the LSTM Herpetarium, the largest and most varied collection of tropical venomous snakes in the UK.
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Materials provided through the University of Sydney. Note: Content may be edited for taste and length.
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