How Deadly Snake Venom Could Save Your Life?

Did you know that snake venom may be able to be used to save lives? venom gel solidifies at a body temperature, which will give the exciting property of sealing wounds.

Highlights:

Venom obtained from deadly snakes contains important blood clotting proteins
This provides the property of sealing wounds, which currently rely on a gauze product
Once the venom gel has been developed, it could be a life-saving addition to first-aid kits

Some of the world’s deadliest snakes could soon be saving lives, with research from The University of Queensland showing venom could be used to stop uncontrolled bleeding.

Snake venom’s healing touch

The eastern brown viper tends to enjoy lurking in hiding spots to capture Australian rodents. They are the second deadliest land snake and can kill a human in under half an hour but this venom could have some life-saving properties.

The team at the University of Queensland has developed a “venom gel” comprising two recombinant snake venom proteins. This rapid wound sealant can initiate blood clotting and prevent blood clot breakdown.

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‘Snake venom gel could be sold in pharmacies, added to first aid kits, and used by paramedics or military personnel to stop bleeding while a patient is taken to hospital.’

The team comes from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and has published the study in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Venom is normally a very complex matrix and there are proteins in it that are essential in blood clotting. The venom gel remains in a liquid state but solidifies at a body temperature, which will give the exciting property of sealing wounds.

Currently, first aid training relies on a gauze product that does not always stop the bleeding.

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“As many as 40 per cent of trauma-related deaths are the result of uncontrolled bleeding, and this figure is much higher when it comes to military personnel with serious bleeding in a combat zone,” Amanda Kijas, Postdoctoral Research Fellow working on the project said in a statement.

When a traumatic injury occurs, the complexity of the healing process overloads the body’s capacity to control the bleeding. Researchers hope this gel will accelerate the wound-healing processes needed for clotting and reducing blood flow, ultimately boosting the body’s capacity to heal large wounds.

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Nature has created the most elegant and sophisticated mechanisms and we can repurpose them to save people from dying due to uncontrolled bleeding.

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The research shows there is five times less blood loss and clots form three times more quickly when the venom gel is applied, compared to the body’s natural process. This even includes people with hemophilia and those using blood thinners.

Currently, this venom gel is undergoing a pre-clinical testing phase and may be scaled up for commercial use. This work is being conducted with Mark Midwinter from the University of Queensland School of Biomedical Sciences.

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The study received funding from the United States Department of Defense with blood donated from the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.

The venom gel is being tested in pre-clinical evaluations and is being scaled-up toward commercial application in collaboration with Professor Mark Midwinter from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences.

Once the venom gel has been developed and tested, it could be a life-saving addition to first-aid kits for the public and military.

Source-Medindia