Venom in Snail May Cut Severe Nerve Pain

A recent study carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Utah found that severe pain caused by injury to the nervous system may be considerably curbed by a toxin in the venom of a sea dwelling cone snail. The specific snail is called Conus regius and uses its venom to paralyze and capture fish.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal, University of Utah team explained that their study has been conducted on rats so far, but findings showed promise for further development of a new generation of painkillers based on the sea snail venom toxin. The particular toxins extracted from Conus regius venom which proved to be extremely efficient in cutting severe nerve pain are named RgIA and Vc1.1. Scientists discovered that the two toxins work against chronic pain by inhibiting a molecule produced in cells and called the "alpha9alpha10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor."

Co-author of the study J. Michael McIntosh, University of Utah Research Professor of Biology and Research Director and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry stated that this is a breakthrough method of blocking severe pain in a large number of individuals worldwide: "We found a new way to treat a chronic and debilitating form of pain suffered by hundreds of millions of people on Earth. It is a previously unrecognized mechanism for treating pain."

McIntosh also pointed out the fact that up to present, there are no highly effective methods of reducing excruciating pain experienced by people who have suffered injury to the nervous system. On the overall, neuropathic pain and nerve hypersensibility results from injuries to the spinal cord, brain or nerves. Such pain may be caused by diabetes condition which triggers the damage of feet nerves or nerves found in other regions of the body, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, alcoholism etc.

Researchers concluded in their report: "The numerous analgesic compounds currently available are largely ineffective. Our findings not only suggest a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism for the treatment of neuropathic pain, but also demonstrate the involvement of alpha9alpha10 nicotinic receptors."