Tarantula toxin taken from West Africa's hand-size tarantula could lead the path to cure pain.
A team of scientists from UC San Fransisco has done a remarkable research, revealing the benefits of molecules obtained from the massive spidey's venom. The fangs that cause terrible pain by triggering sodium channel.
Tarantula toxin injected in paws of a mice
Researchers have identified numbers of spiders to develop pain treatment associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Using mice as subject, scientist injected tarantula toxin to its paw to better understand the venom's effect, Wired reported.
The mice showed an unusual behavior as it kept licking its paw. It is because of the hypersensitivity induced. Researchers claimed that tarantula toxin hypersensitized to mechanical term but not stimuli nor thermal. It also didn't cause any inflammation to appear.
According to the scientists, the nerves induced by the toxin suggest the source of discomfort for patients with irritable bower syndrome. So far, the complexity of subtype makes it difficult to determine drugs that can act on one. The tarantula toxin has given scientists, a tool to understand what is Nav1.1 and how the toxin is able to block pain sensation without leaving the area feeling numb.
Tarantula toxin could help scientists develop chronic pain treatments
The research will open doors to understanding of pain and tarantula toxin can be used as a tool to manipulate sodium channel for neurological disorders like epilepsy or autism.
In addition, researchers examined the structure of Nav1.1 in nociceptors to identify binding sites related to the pain. The result could be used in developing treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferers as it is able to block the channel.
There were many studies on tarantula venom that leads to chronic pain treatments. In the future, tarantula toxin may be able to replace opioid drugs which can have many side effects and is likely to cause addiction, IFL Science reported.
