14 DAY TRIAL // A new report authored by researchers at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Colima in Mexico proposes that scorpion venom could be used to treat various forms of cancer, possibly even address the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
The scientists don't mean venom from just any scorpion. On the contrary, they have a very specific species in mind, i.e. Centruroides tecomanus. This species is native to Mexico and is a fairly common sight in the state of Colima, where the investigation was carried out.
How scorpion venom could treat cancer
The University of Colima team explain that, as part of their work, they first obtained venom from several Centruroides tecomanus specimens. They then extracted about a hundred proteins from it that they found of special interest and exposed cancer cells grown in laboratory conditions to them.
The proteins entered the cancer cells and destroyed them. Even though the cancer cells used in these experiments were essentially a sample of lymphoma, which is a cancer of the lymphatic system, the scientists believe the treatment might work against other forms of the diseases as well.
In the report detailing their work, the researchers go on to say that, although scorpion venom is toxic to humans, the proteins that they selected for these experiments and that they used to treat lymphoma appeared to be more interested in doing away with cancer cells than messing with healthy cells.
“Our interest is for the cell to be selectively removed. We have found that these peptides have affinity with these cells, that is, they could specifically bind to them and induce cancer death,” head of research Laura Leticia Valdez Velazquez commented on the outcome of these experiments in an interview.
Since proteins extracted from scorpion venom have until now only been proven to kill lymphoma cancer cells in laboratory conditions and the exact mechanisms for why this happens are yet to be fully understood, it will surely be a while until the researchers are ready to debut clinical trials.
A potential treatment for Parkinson's
As explained by medical experts, Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that correlates with damage to neurons and a drop in the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that, among other things, serves to control muscle movement.
In a series of experiments on animals, the University of Colima team showed that toxins present in the venom produced by Centruroides tecomanus scorpions can up dopamine production in the body. Hence, it might be possible to use the toxins to address Parkinson's disease symptoms.