The Uses of Snake Venom

Neurotoxins are proteins that affect the nervous system and cause heart failure; cobra and coral snake are examples of neurotoxin venom. Hemotoxins, on the other hand, attack the blood stream and muscles; copperheads and rattlesnakes are prime examples of this class. Some snakes' venom contains both kinds of protein.
             Davidson College's Biology Department web page, last referenced January 7, 2003, describes how scientists have analyzed the chemical structure of many types of venom, isolating the individual proteins and seeking to apply them to various sicknesses and health conditions. The principle behind this application is simple: take the effect that the venom produces, and, suitably adjusted and diluted, use it to produce the same effect when it is necessary in a patient. Take the most common application of snake venom, its use as an antidcoagulant, for example. In the natural state, the anticoagulant enzymes help the venom to spread quickly throughout the body; in a medical preparation, they help prevent stroke by retarding blood clotting.
             Actually, we are moving into our second point now. Snake venom has been used for centuries in various applications "from treating leprosy in the 1100s (unsuccessfully) to treating nose bleeds in the 1940s (until the Federal government stepped in and said the medicine was not safe. Davdison College says that prior to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, Cobra venom was even used in bombs. History tells us that Hannibal threw jars of poisonous snakes onto enemy ships. We, however, are going to look at three life-saving drugs derived from snake venom, Aggrastat, Ancrod, and Ramipril, which treat heart failure and stroke (the most common cause of death in the U.S. and the world, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 2002).
             Aggrastat, an anticoagulant drug developed by Merck Research Labs, duplicates the anti-clotting properties of the African saw-scaled viper's venom.