If you live in the temperate zone, you may not realize that snakebites are among the world’s deadliest diseases. In tropical and sub-tropical climes, several million people are envenomated by snakes every year, according to the World Health Organization. About 140,000 of these people die annually, while another 400,000 suffer permanent disabilities. These unfortunate statistics involving venomous snake encounters are skewed toward lower-resourced countries and rural populations.
Snakebite treatment relies on the rapid application of an antivenom able to neutralize venom after a bite. In a study published today in Trends in Biotechnology, researchers from the University of Reading and the Technical University of Denmark announced a potential breakthrough in lessening the toll of snakebites.
Normally, antivenoms tackle the toxins that have entered a person’s bloodstream after a bite, but don’t effectively reach the muscle tissue around the bite site. So, antivenoms are an effective primary treatment to halt systemic damage to the cardiovascular and nervous systems, but don’t stem the local tissue damage.
Because tissue damage from snakebites may lead to costly surgery, the scientists aimed to develop an approach that was more affordable and effective in protecting muscles around the bite site. Applying mRNA technology, which advanced in leaps and bounds during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study tested mRNA surrounded by bits of fat molecules called lipid nanoparticles. Each mRNA molecule was wrapped in a blanket of fat to ease its entry into cells, where it triggered the production of antibodies targeting specific venom toxins.
Read more: “Snakes Break All the Rules”
Using mice as a model organism, the researchers injected their shin muscles with a myotoxin (a venom compound implicated in its damaging effects on muscles) from a lancehead viper (Bothrops asper), a species native to Central and South America. Into the muscles of some mice, they injected the lipid-wrapped mRNAs, whereas the control mice did not receive the treatment. The research team also experimented with giving the treatment to human muscle cells in culture after exposing them to the myotoxin.
The cells that were treated responded by producing protective antibodies that limited muscle damage. Furthermore, the muscles of the mice that received the experimental treatment remained healthier overall. “For the first time, we've shown that mRNA technology can protect muscle tissue from snake venom-induced damage,” said lead author and cardiovascular venom specialist from the University of Reading Sakthi Vaiyapuri in a statement.
The mRNA treatment is not a substitute for antivenoms that help save lives by limiting the systemic damage of snakebites. But, if delivered alongside it, the new therapy might neutralize toxins at the bite site and prevent the disabilities that come with getting bitten by a venomous snake.
The findings constitute “a proof of concept to improve treatments for envenomings,” the authors wrote. With the myriad toxins in different snake venoms, each wielding a distinct method of harm, the approach may one day use specially designed mRNAs to prevent local damage from a variety of fanged serpents. 
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Lead image: Nayeryouakim / Wikimedia Commons
