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Deadly spider venom proteins can significantly reduce brain damage after a stroke
Every year, more than a quarter of a million Germans suffer a stroke. This disease is the world's leading cause of permanent disability. Researchers now report that brain damage after a stroke with a protein in a potentially deadly spider venom could be reduced.
One of the most poisonous spiders in the world
The funnel web spider (English: "Funnel Web Spider") is one of the most poisonous spiders in the world. According to experts, a bite of the animal can kill people within 15 minutes. Only recently was a little boy reported who, with good luck, survived a bite from the spider that lives mainly in and around Sydney. He needed twelve vials of antidote - a record amount. Australian scientists now report that the poison of these animals can also be of health benefit to humans. A protein in it could therefore reduce brain damage after a stroke.
Australian researchers have determined that a protein in the funnel web spider's venom can reduce brain damage after a stroke. (Image: pict rider / fotolia.com) Deadly spider venom could reduce brain damage after stroke
According to one study, a protein in a deadly spider venom could reduce brain damage after a stroke.
The scientists from the University of Queensland in Brisbane and Monash University in Melbourne have extracted a protein from the funnel web spider poison for their experiments.
"We believe that, for the first time, we have found a way to minimize the consequences of brain damage following a stroke," the study's lead professor, Professor Glenn King, said in a statement.
The results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Protection for the central brain region
"The small protein we discovered, Hi1a, blocks acid-sensing ion channels in the brain that are critically responsible for post-stroke brain damage," King said.
He hopes that their discovery could radically improve outcomes for stroke patients.
"One of the most exciting things about Hi1a is that it provides exceptional protection up to eight hours after a stroke, a remarkably long window of treatment," said King.
"Hi1a even provides some protection for the central brain region, which is most affected by oxygen deficiency and generally considered incurable because of the rapid death of cells in stroke," the scientist added.
Discovery could help better care for stroke patients
Director of the Brain Center at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Professor Stephen Davis, said the pre-clinical studies were encouraging.
As the expert explained in the Communication from the University of Queensland, most stroke patients are likely to be able to use a "safe and effective neuroprotection" in the ambulance before arriving at the hospital and offer treatment to many more patients.
Next, it needs to be clarified whether the "encouraging results" in clinical trials prove useful to humans. Study leader King hopes that human testing will be possible within the next two years.
"This world first discovery will help us better serve stroke survivors by limiting brain damage and disability through devastating injury," said Davis.
According to the scientists, around six million people worldwide die of a stroke each year, causing five million survivors to suffer permanent damage. (Ad)