Wouldn't it be great to be able to stop the bleeding from a cut or wound in as little as six seconds without having to go to extremes? Well, the researchers at Rice University have developed just that (depending on what you consider to be extreme).
They have incorporated the enzyme batroxobin which comes from the venom of a South American pit viper into a hydrogel. This enzyme has been known to help with blood clotting since 1936, but the researchers wanted to find a way to make it useful; especially in the field of medicine. How it works is that the hydrogel is made up of "self-assembling nanofibers" that can be mixed with the enzyme and injected into the site of bleeding. The nanofibers and batroxobin come together and turn into some type of gel which automatically stops the bleeding. This was performed on lab mice in different combinations like the gel without the enzyme or the enzyme without the gel but the only effective combination was having both of them together.
The researchers have named their combination SB50 and hope to have it approved by FDA soon to start incorporating them into the medicine field. They believe this will be a great advantage for patients who need to take anti-coagulants or are using Heparin. Apparently, Heparin is a drug that can block the function of thrombin and this is no Bueno because thrombin is the enzyme that starts all of the reactions that lead to blood clotting. I guess I should add, for those animal lovers, that snakes are not being tortured or forced to donate their venom. The enzyme can be synthesized in a lab without the need of the snake. :)
This seems pretty cool to me and I hope the FDA approves it soon because this can save so many lives!
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As long as its effects can be safely controlled and kept within the isolated area that is the target of treatment, this will be a wonderful addition to the treatment practicum. I know that it can be incredibly difficult to deal with patients with multiple conditions where they have one which requires the administration of NSAIDs and other blood thinning agents, and then an injury or another condition which requires surgery.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what kind of side effects this would have. I would be scared to try it, but I guess if I was in that situation, who knows...
ReplyDeleteDoes the size of the wound matter when using the gel? Would they be able to use the gel during surgery?
ReplyDeleteSo weird. I just watched a weird mini-documentary about the affects of boomslang venom.
ReplyDeleteI would think this could have major benefits for in the field whether it's outdoors on a camping trip or hike, or in the battlefield. I wonder the same thing as Michael, does the size of the wound matter so that the gel still works. Snake venom is used for alot more things then we realize besides anti-venoms. Southern Copperhead venom is used to extract a protein known as contortostrostatin which has been shown to slow down the growth of breast cancer cells. it does this by inhibiting the development of blood vessels which in turn slows down the growth of the tumor. Pretty neat stuff!
ReplyDeleteI heard about this!! It reminds me of fix-a-flat - not necessarily a long-term fix, but it at least buys you time to get to a hospital before bleeding out!
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