A Cure In Poison

With the help of technology, dangerous biological materials, such as poison; have been manipulated. Such a complex material, which is composed of many proteins, each one differently different that fulfill a respective function, its isolation is an approach to get an use for the treatment of diseases.

There are more than 9 million animal species on Earth; reports indicate that 15% of the world's animal biodiversity is poisonous. To a greater or lesser degree of danger, the poisons of different species of animals can cause simple annoyance, serious diseases, and infections or be fatal.

Every year there are millions of poisonous animal bites; snakes alone cause 1.8 million bites and around 90 thousand deaths. The symptoms are many, including pain, itching, even weakness, or stools depending on the strength of the poison.

"Allergic reactions are one of the most feared complications arising from any sting," said Dr. Jonathan Chong of the DTAP Clinic. The allergic reaction caused by poisons can be unpredictable; there is a solution for most cases, but yet; thousands of people die each year.

Image 1: The tentacles at the bottom are which ones contain the poison.

How to use them to heal

Poison-based medications exist; medics use them for therapeutic purposes, some of which are well known, such as captopril and exenatide. Captopril, widely used to treat high blood pressure, is derived from the venom of the jararaca viper (Bothrops jararaca).

The venom of anemones and jellyfish is closely related to similar proteins; studies indicate that toxins can act on the nervous system, cardiovascular system, and cell walls, among other functions.

Circulation-altering toxins offer the potential use in drugs to treat cardiovascular problems and work similarly for the other systems, paving the way for new drug discovery.

In the image next, Professor Glenn King observes the threat displayed by a funnel-web spider. This genus of spiders has led to a new therapeutic potential for human stroke treatment.

Image 2: Funnel-web spiders are among the most medically significant groups of spiders on Earth.

What about the jellyfish?

There are many poisons, some are powerful than others, and this does not exclude jellyfish. There are many species of jellyfish with different types of venom. The box jellyfish is the most harmful of all, whose poison can kill a person, while the egg jellyfish is less dangerous, and its venom does not come to a long disadvantage.

Jellyfish tentacles can extend several feet long; they have venom-filled cells called "nematocysts," a typical cell type in jellyfish with uses in defense, prey capture, and locomotion.

A tentacle carries between 1,000 and trillion nematocysts that, when in contact with the skin, inject venom, paralyze and kill predators or prey.

Nematocysts vary in structure, usually carrying three rows of spines, which allow entry through the skin and discharge of venom.

These thorns attach themselves to the body surfaces to release hemolytic and neurotoxic compounds. The projectile-shaped apparatus can pierce the thick cuticles of crustaceans. They affect the bloodstream and destroy cell walls.

Technology has made it possible to separate the proteins from the venom and evaluate, modify and test them individually to obtain new medicines, depending on the site of the body where they act.

Image 3: Some species are more dangerous than others.

The proteins or venom fractions have to pass a purification process; then, they are useful for medicine. The jellyfish venom is anti-inflammatory, fibrinolytic, anti-cancer (in liver, lung, glioma, colon), analgesic, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antiarrhythmic, antihypertensive, and blood-binding.

These effects are found distributed in different species of jellyfish and are assign to proteins or respective preparations.

Below is a scientific table that explains the information in more detail. In the same order, the species, the protein, the function, and finally, the reference of the original article.

Table 1: Jellyfish Venom Proteins and Their Pharmacological Potentials (click the image).

Poisons have a giant utility to create antidotes for the respective poison because it is the same compound used to generate antibodies for its capture. Optimizing these methods can lead to more efficient antivenoms, cheaper to produce, and more tolerable by reducing unwanted side effects.

Poison is responsible for causing hundreds of harvests of human deaths a year. It is not advisable to play with this type of material or try to "improve" your defenses by allowing these wild animals to attack you. The venom is not purified, and many times they have the pleasure of carrying infectious diseases caused by microorganisms.

Additionally, the poison can cause permanent damage to the brain and the body. Therefore it is better to use medicinal preparations that are studied and purified.

References

• Li, Rongfeng & Yu, Huahua & Li, Tong & Li, Pengcheng. (2020). Comprehensive Proteome Reveals the Key Lethal Toxins in the Venom of Jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai. Journal of Proteome Research. XXXX. 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00277. 

• Greener, M. (2020), The next generation of venom-based drugs. Prescriber, 31: 28-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/psb.1837

•  Australian Geographic. Wilson da Silva. Turning toxins to therapies: the wild world of researching venom. January 28, 2021. Link https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2021/01/turning-toxins-to-therapies-the-wild-world-of-researching-venom/.

• Daly, Norelle & Seymour, Jamie & Wilson, David. (2014). Exploring the therapeutic potential of jellyfish venom. Future medicinal chemistry. 6. 1715-24. 10.4155/fmc.14.108. 

• Amreen Nisa S, Vinu D, Krupakar P, Govindaraju K, Sharma D, Vivek R. Jellyfish venom proteins and their pharmacological potentials: A review. Int J Biol Macromol. 2021 Apr 15;176:424-436. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.02.074. Epub 2021 Feb 11. PMID: 33581202.