Mysuru:  “Although snake bites can be deadly, snake venom is a natural biological resource that contains several components of potential therapeutic value,” said Dr. K.N. Neema, Research Scholar at JSS Research Foundation, Mysuru.

She was delivering a talk on ‘Snake venom toxins as therapeutic agents,’ organised by The Institution of Engineers – India (IEI), Mysuru Local Centre, at its premises on JLB Road in city yesterday.

She said that snake venom has been used in the treatment of a variety of pathophysiological conditions in Ayurveda, Homeopathy and folk medicine and added that with the advent of biotechnology, the efficacy of such treatments has been substantiated by purifying components of venom and delineating their therapeutic properties.

Stating that snake venom is a complex chemical mixture that contains proteins, enzymes and basic polypeptides, Dr. Neema said that snake venom is regarded as ‘Gold Mine’ for researchers as it exhibits marked applications for the treatment of asthma, blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, thrombosis, cancer and many other diseases.

She said that the quality of venom depends on the geographical distribution, seasonal diet and age of the snake and added that snake venom is the major source of all the enzymes and 90% of the venom is composed of proteins and peptides.

Najanalgesin was the first cardiotoxin shown to have analgesic effects, she said and added that it has been isolated from Naja Naja atra Cobra and it has been shown to have significant analgesic effects in tests involving animals.

Continuing, she said that another component Ancrod in the venom of Malayam Pit Viper is being used to prevent the formation of new blood clots, to break down the existing clots and is used to thin the blood to increase blood flow to the brain.

Speaking about the use of venom in the treatment of cancer, Dr. Neema said that venom has become an even better cancer treatment but some venom derived treatments appear to be specific to certain cell types.

Contortrostatin is a protein derived from copperhead snake venom which has been shown to slow the growth of tumours and cancer cells and prevent them from spreading to other parts of the body, she added.

Stating that certain venom components is being used in health products, she said that a toxin called Syn-ake, which is derived from the venom of Viper snake, is added to at least two skin care products to stop wrinkles and to prevent facial muscles from contracting. It had a smoothing effect on 80% of those in the clinical sample and anti-wrinkle effect on 73%.

Concluding her talk, Dr. Neema said that after researching the many medical uses of venom, a definite take home message is to look for any other possible treatment method from venom, after all, if a material that can cause sudden death can also cause substantial healing, nothing should be overlooked when seeking out cures and treatments.

IEI Mysuru Chairman R. Suresh, Secretary D.K. Dinesh Kumar, Prog. Convenor S.C. Balawat and others were present.