Snake venom will help treat cancer and diabetes
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The snake is not in vain a widely known medical symbol. Long ago people knew that snake venom has not only destructive, but also creating properties. He is able not only to harm a person, but also to heal. Perhaps we still do not know how strong the healing properties of snake venom can be.
Scientists from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine after a series of experiments argue that snake venom can be used to create drugs for the treatment of diabetes, hypertension and even cancer.
In medicine, drugs that are made on the basis of snake venom have long been used, but the deadly toxins that remain in its composition remain a problem for scientists and physicians. To make the use of medicines safe, scientists have to change the structure of toxins. However, recent studies show that "non-toxic toxins" that will be useful in the development of medicines can be formed even in the body of the snake.
The fact is that the dangerous molecules contained in the snake venom - toxins - evolved from innocuous molecules that were used by the snake not to kill the prey, but performed various "peaceful" functions in various parts of the snake's body. Until recently, it was believed that this evolutionary process was one-sided, but scientists from the Australian National University and the University of Bangor, after analyzing the sequences of Burmese python and garter serpent genes, concluded that toxins from snake venom could still return to their harmless state due to evolutionary processes. If scientists subsequently manage to understand how these processes occur, this knowledge can be used to produce new drugs based on snake venom. Perhaps these new drugs will expand the medical arsenal to combat diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
"The results of our studies confirm that the evolution of poisons is a truly complex process. Glands of snakes that secrete a dangerous liquid develop. The poison is responsible not only for the killing of the prey, but also performs other functions in the snake's body, "says Professor Nicholas Casewell.
Specialists conducted a clinical analysis of snake venom and found that many innocuous toxins can withstand diseases of the nervous system and cardiovascular ailments.
Further study of "non-toxic toxins" of snake venom will help drug developers to make them safe and effective in combating various diseases.
At the moment, for the production of medicines are used the poisons of three snakes - vipers, cobra and gurzy. Doses of their toxic substances in injections and ointments do not exceed a tenth of a milligram. In each particular case, the dosage of the drug and the course of treatment are determined by the physician.
[