28/05/2019
Snake Venom: adverse and beneficial effects on human health
Snake venoms are complex mixtures of small molecules and major proteins/polypeptides affecting victims exposed. Snakebite victims exhibit a variety of life‐threatening pathologies related to neurotoxic effects such as muscle weakness/respiratory arrest, and cytotoxic effects such as toe gangrene/extensive necrotizing fasciitis (1).
According to report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that approximately 5.4 million patients were bitten by snakes, leading to 400,000 surgeries and around 125,000 deaths each year in the world (2) (3). Currently, the problem of snakebite envenoming is considered as one of the most common neglected tropical disease threatening the life of inhabitants in less-developed and developing countries, even in developed countries (4) (5).
However, several snake venom components may actually be beneficial to human health. They can be used as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulation and anti-cancer agents in treatment of human diseases (6).
1. Waiddyanatha, S., Silva, A., Siribaddana, S., and Isbister, G.K. (2019). Long-term Effects of Snake Envenoming. Toxins (Basel) 11.
2. Williams, D., Gutie´rrez, J.M., Harrison, R., Warrell, D.A., White, J., Winkel, K.D., et al. (2010). The Global Snake Bite Initiative: an antidote for snake bite. Lancet. 375(9708), 89–91
3. Arnold, C. (2016). Vipers, mambas and taipans: the escalating health crisis over snakebites. Nature. 537 (7618), 26–8
4. Kasturiratne, A., Wickremasinghe, A.R., de Silva, N., Gunawardena, N.K., Pathmeswaran, A., et al. (2008). The Global Burden of Snakebite: A Literature Analysis and Modelling Based on Regional Estimates of Envenoming and Deaths. PLoS Med. 5, 1591–1604
5. Gutierrez, J.M., Warrell, D.A., Williams, D.J., Jensen, S., Brown, N., Calvete, J.J., et al. (2013). The need for full integration of snakebite envenoming within a global strategy to combat the neglected tropical diseases: the way forward. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 7, e2162
6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00253-016-7610-9