Green blood of lizards can be used as an active ingredient against diseases?

Why do certain lizards have green blood??

Certain reptiles have bile pigments in their blood that are 40 times higher in concentration than a deadly concentration in humans. These lizards have somehow developed resistance to bile pigment toxicity. A new study now explored the origins of the unusual green blood of these animals.

The researchers at Louisiana State University and the American Museum of Natural History, in their current research, attempted to find out why certain lizards have unusual green blood that contains a very high concentration of biliverdin. The physicians published the results of their study in the English language journal "Science Advances".

The green blood of some species of lizards could possibly facilitate the treatment of malaria and jaundice. (Image: Lubos Chlubny / fotalia.com)

Animals had resistance to bile pigment toxicity

Apart from the high concentration of biliverdin detected for each animal, these lizards have somehow developed resistance to bile pigment toxicity, says study author Zachary Rodriguez of Louisiana State University. For the current study, several expeditions to the depths of the New Guinea rainforest were required to observe the amazing diversity of reptiles and amphibians there. The scientists have focused particularly on the so-called green-blooded skinks, which are found nowhere else in the world, apart from the neighboring Solomon Islands.

DNA samples from 52 lizard species were examined

On their expeditions, the researchers collected the DNA samples from a total of 52 species of skinks, including six species with green blood. Two of these types of green blood have been completely unknown to science. Using the genetic information gained, the researchers were able to create a kind of Skink family tree. This indicated that there are at least four different lines of green-flowered lizards. Each of these lines developed independently of their ancestors with red blood. "The complex history of these animals was very interesting and we were surprised by the variety of lizards with green blood," explains Rodriguez.

Green blood was favored by natural selection

The fact that this trait seems to emerge repeatedly suggests that green blood is not just an evolutionary peculiarity, but a useful trait favored by natural selection, the expert added. In the blood of various species of fish and insects also high Bilverdinwerte were found, which are considered in some frog species as the cause of green bones, skin and blood.

Can protect the blood from diseases?

The findings support the idea that green blood has an adaptive value, and laboratory studies suggest that bile pigments can play a role as antioxidants or even protect against disease, the medical community explains. The next goal will be to identify those genes responsible for green blood, says Rodriguez. Detecting why lizards are protected from the harmful effects of excessive green pigments could lead to a better understanding of jaundice.

Also protects the green blood from malaria?

Understanding the underlying physiological changes that allowed these lizards to develop no symptoms of jaundice could also affect non-traditional approaches to specific health issues, Rodriguez explains. Lizard with green blood from New Guinea are fascinating for parasitologists, because bilirubin is known to be toxic to human malaria parasites, according to study author Prof. Susan Perkins of the American Museum of Natural History. It will now investigate the potential effect of the green blood pigment on malaria and other parasites that can infect these lizards. (As)