Ouch! Could Scorpion Venom be an Alternative to Morphine?
With lobster-like claws, a stinger-capped tail, and the ability to kill a human with its poisonous venom, a scorpion is not exactly nature’s most cuddly little creature. So it’s no surprise to associate scorpions with causing pain, right?
Dr. Michael Gurevitz of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Plant Sciences has some different, more counter-intuitive thoughts about the relationship between a scorpion’s venom and pain. When he thinks about scorpions, he wonders about curing pain, not causing it. Gurevitz and his team are looking into the natural components of scorpion venom as inspiration for a new pain medication that could possibly be an alternative to morphine.
Dr. Gurevitz is focusing his research on the Israeli yellow scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus). Also, known as the deathstalker scorpion, the Israeli yellow scorpion’s tail contains some of the world’s most potent venom. Dr. Gurevitz has chosen to work with this potentially deadly creature because of toxins in this scorpion’s venom that specifically affect the sodium channels in mammals. Because these compounds have been honed by evolution throughout millions of years, they can act on a human body with remarkable specificity, targeting the sodium channels that work with the muscular and nervous systems to communicate pain to the brain.
Dr. Gurevitz explained, “We are trying to understand how toxins in the venom interact with sodium channels at the molecular level and particularly how some of the toxins differentiate among channel subtypes. If we figure this out, we may be able to slightly modify such toxins, making them more potent and specific for certain pain mediating sodium channels.”
The inventive concept of creating new medications based on systems or processes that occur in nature, is known as “biomimicry” or “rational drug design”. Gurevitz hopes to use nature as the model to create a more specific and effective painkiller.
Finding a better painkiller could help solve one of the most world’s most important medical problems: how to best help patients cope with pain without side effects such as addiction, that are associated with morphine and other drugs.
The website of American Friends of Tel Aviv University has more information.
Photo by Teejaybee on flickr used under Creative Commons License.
Leave a reply