The Times Australia
The Times World News

.

How a century-old drug could revolutionise cobra bite treatment

  • Written by Tian Du, PhD candidate in venom genomics, University of Sydney
How a century-old drug could revolutionise cobra bite treatment

About 1.8 million people[1] worldwide are bitten by snakes each year. Of those, up to 138,000 die and another 400,000 end up with permanent scarring and disability.

Many cobras have tissue-damaging venoms[2] that can’t be treated with current antivenoms. We have discovered that cheap, readily available blood-thinning medications can be repurposed as antidotes for these venoms.

Using CRISPR gene-editing technology we learned more about how these venoms attack our cells, and found out that a common class of drugs called heparinoids[3] can protect tissue from the venom. Our research[4] is published today in Science Translational Medicine.

Snakebites are a serious problem

Snake venoms[5] are made up of many different compounds. Generally, they target the heart, nervous system or tissue at the exposure site (such as the skin and muscle).

Much snakebite research understandably focuses on the most deadly venoms. As a result, venoms that are less deadly but still cause long-term problems – such as cobra venoms – have received less attention.

In the regions where cobras live, serious snakebites can have devastating effects such as amputation, leading to life-changing injuries and a loss of livelihood. The World Health Organization has declared snakebite a “Category A” neglected tropical disease and hopes to reduce the burden of snakebites by half by 2030[6].

The only current treatments for snakebites are antivenoms[7], which are made by exposing non-human animals to small amounts of the venom and harvesting the antibodies they produce in response.

Antivenoms save lives, but they have several drawbacks. Each one is specific to one or more species of snake, they are prohibitively expensive (when they are available at all), they need cold storage, and they must be administered via injection in a hospital.

What’s more, antivenoms can’t prevent local tissue damage. This is mainly because the antibodies that make up antivenoms are too large to reach peripheral tissue, such as a limb.

How cobra venom kills cells

Our team – at the University of Sydney in Australia, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom and Instituto Clodomiro Picado in Costa Rica – set out to look for other options to treat snakebites.

First, we wanted to try to understand how these venoms worked. We started with cobras, which are found across Africa and South Asia.

We took venom from the African spitting cobra, which is known to cause tissue damage, and performed what is called a whole genome CRISPR[8] screen.

Spitting cobra
The Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica). Wolfgang Wüster

We took a large mixture of human cells and used CRISPR gene-editing technology to disable a different gene from across the whole human genome in each cell. CRISPR technology uses a special enzyme to remove or change specific parts of the DNA in a cell.

Then we exposed all the cells to the cobra venom, and looked at which ones survived and which ones died.

Cells that survived must have been missing whatever it is that the venom needs to hurt us, so we could quickly identify what these features were.

We found various cobra venoms need particular enzymes to kill human cells. These enzymes are responsible for making long sugar molecules called heparan and heparin sulfate[9].

Heparan sulfate is found on the surface of human and animal cells. Heparin sulfate is released from our cells when our immune systems respond to a threat.

The importance of these molecules intuitively made sense. Snake venoms have evolved alongside their targets, and heparan and heparin have changed very little throughout evolution. The venoms have therefore hijacked something common to animal physiology to cause damage.

How heparin decoys reduce tissue damage

Heparin has been used as a blood-thinning medication for almost 100 years.

We tested this drug on human cells to see if flooding the system with free heparin could be used as a decoy target for the venom. Remarkably, this worked and the venoms no longer caused cell death, even when the heparin was added to cells after the venom.

We also tested heparin against venoms from distantly related Asian cobras and it had the same protective effect. We also showed that injecting a smaller synthetic version of heparin called tinzaparin[10] could reduce tissue damage in mice with an artificial “snakebite”.

To figure out how heparin was blocking the venom, we separated the venom into its major components. We found that heparin inhibits “cytotoxic three-finger toxins[11]”, which are a major cause of tissue injury. Until now there were no drugs known to work against these toxins.

The next step will be to test the effects of heparin in people.

Cheaper, more accessible snakebite treatment

Our goal is to make a snakebite treatment device containing heparin-like drugs called heparinoids, which would be similar to the EpiPen adrenaline injectors often carried by people at risk of severe allergic reactions. These devices could be distributed to people who face a high risk of cobra bites.

Heparinoids are already inexpensive essential medicines used to prevent blood clots. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved them for self-administration in humans which may reduce the time required for the lengthy process of getting a drug to market. Heparinoids are also stable at room temperature, meaning the drugs can be more accessible in remote regions and delivered faster in the field.

Other studies[12] have also confirmed the usefulness of repurposing drugs[13] for treating snakebites. These drug combinations could herald a new age for snake venom treatment that doesn’t solely rely on costly antivenoms.

Our lab has previously used CRISPR screening to investigate box jellyfish venom[14] and we’re currently looking at other venoms closer to home from bluebottles to black snakes. Our screening technique lets us uncover a wealth of information about a venom.

It’s early days, but we are finding many venoms rely on overlapping targets to attach to our cells. This research all feeds into the more lofty goal of making universal and broad-acting venom antidotes.

References

  1. ^ 1.8 million people (www.who.int)
  2. ^ tissue-damaging venoms (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  3. ^ heparinoids (www.sciencedirect.com)
  4. ^ research (www.science.org)
  5. ^ Snake venoms (www.nature.com)
  6. ^ half by 2030 (journals.plos.org)
  7. ^ antivenoms (www.nature.com)
  8. ^ CRISPR (theconversation.com)
  9. ^ heparan and heparin sulfate (www.sciencedirect.com)
  10. ^ tinzaparin (www.mayoclinic.org)
  11. ^ cytotoxic three-finger toxins (www.nature.com)
  12. ^ Other studies (www.pnas.org)
  13. ^ repurposing drugs (www.nature.com)
  14. ^ box jellyfish venom (theconversation.com)

Read more https://theconversation.com/how-a-century-old-drug-could-revolutionise-cobra-bite-treatment-234277

Times Magazine

When Touchscreens Turn Temperamental: What to Do Before You Panic

When your touchscreen starts acting up, ignoring taps, registering phantom touches, or freezing entirely, it can feel like your entire setup is falling apart. Before you rush to replace the device, it’s worth taking a deep breath and exploring what c...

Why Social Media Marketing Matters for Businesses in Australia

Today social media is a big part of daily life. All over Australia people use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok , LinkedIn and Twitter to stay connected, share updates and find new ideas. For businesses this means a great chance to reach new customers and...

Building an AI-First Culture in Your Company

AI isn't just something to think about anymore - it's becoming part of how we live and work, whether we like it or not. At the office, it definitely helps us move faster. But here's the thing: just using tools like ChatGPT or plugging AI into your wo...

Data Management Isn't Just About Tech—Here’s Why It’s a Human Problem Too

Photo by Kevin Kuby Manuel O. Diaz Jr.We live in a world drowning in data. Every click, swipe, medical scan, and financial transaction generates information, so much that managing it all has become one of the biggest challenges of our digital age. Bu...

Headless CMS in Digital Twins and 3D Product Experiences

Image by freepik As the metaverse becomes more advanced and accessible, it's clear that multiple sectors will use digital twins and 3D product experiences to visualize, connect, and streamline efforts better. A digital twin is a virtual replica of ...

The Decline of Hyper-Casual: How Mid-Core Mobile Games Took Over in 2025

In recent years, the mobile gaming landscape has undergone a significant transformation, with mid-core mobile games emerging as the dominant force in app stores by 2025. This shift is underpinned by changing user habits and evolving monetization tr...

The Times Features

Sydney Fertility Specialist – Expert IVF Treatment for Your Parenthood Journey

Improving the world with the help of a new child is the most valuable dream of many couples. To the infertile, though, this process can be daunting. It is here that a Sydney Fertil...

Could we one day get vaccinated against the gastro bug norovirus? Here’s where scientists are at

Norovirus is the leading cause[1] of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. It’s responsible for roughly one in every five cases[2] of gastro annually. Sometimes dubbed ...

Does running ruin your knees? And how old is too old to start?

You’ve probably heard that running is tough on your knees – and even that it can cause long-term damage. But is this true? Running is a relatively high-impact activity. Eve...

Jetstar announces first ever Brisbane to Rarotonga flights with launch fares from just $249^ one-way

Jetstar will start operating direct flights between Brisbane and Rarotonga, the stunning capital island of the Cook Islands, in May 2026, with launch sale fares available today...

Introducing the SE 2 and Mini hair dryers from Laifen

The Mane Attractions for Professional Styling at Home Without the Price Tag Fast, flawless hair is now possible with the launch of Laifen’s two professional quality hair dryers th...

Home Gym Recovery Routines: What Pro Athletes Do After Workouts

Training is only half the equation. What you do after your workout has just as much impact on your progress, performance, and long-term health. Professional athletes know this, w...