BRAZIL: A new antidote for deadly snakebites is found the roots of a Brazilian jungle tree researchers say

Record ID: 284377

  • Title: BRAZIL: A new antidote for deadly snakebites is found the roots of a Brazilian jungle tree researchers say
  • Date: 2nd September 2010
  • Summary: NITEROI, BRAZIL (RECENT) (REUTERS) CLOSE OF BUSHMASTER SNAKE INSIDE A CAGE BUSHMASTER SNAKE INSIDE A CAGE GENERAL VIEW OF SUGARLOAF HILLS AND NITEROI'S CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM STUDENTS WALKING BY FLUMINENSE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE SIGN OUTSIDE FLUMINENSE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER ANDRE LOPES FULY AND A STUDENT CLOSE OF SLIDE SHOWING PICTURES OF A BARBATIMAO
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Health,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA8DKPPDLG7IHKZWTENX6MV6GV2
  • Story Text: The key to snakebite healing might lie underground Brazil's savannahs according to a group of scientists from Rio de Janeiro who developed a new and much cheaper antivenom to the bushmaster snake.
    Researchers of Fluminense Federal University discovered that a root extract from the barbatimao tree - or Stryphnodendron adstringens - was able to neutralize the lethal effects of a bite by the snake known as surucucu in Brazil.
    For two years, biologist Andre Fuly and a group of students have tested several types of plants used in folk medicine, trying to inhibit the effects of the venom of one of the largest and most deadly vipers from Latin America's rainforests.
    The bushmaster's poison destroys red blood cells and proteins, causing haemorrhages and interfering in the victim's coagulation. It also dilates vessels, reducing blood pressure and provoking a dangerous and quick faint.
    Fuly said the barbatimao extract was effective against most of the surucucu's venom effects.
    "The aqueous extract of barbatimao was able to completely inhibit all the (venom's) four biological activities analysed. And it was able to protect the rats against the haemorrhages caused by the surucucu's venom," he said.
    The barbatimao tree, which reaches up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) has long been used by Brazilians as an anti-inflamatory and anti-coagulant medicine. Its leaves and bark are used to heal ulcers, hemorrhages, diarrhoea and other health problems.
    Biologist Fabio Barbosa Passos, who works in Brasilia's Botanical Garden, said the tree's healing properties are well-known among scientists.
    "This is something new -- these anti-ophidic properties of the barbatimao. However, I am not surprised with this because I know it (barbatimao) has astringents properties which help in the skin cicatrisation," he said.
    The usual antidote to the bushmaster's deadly poison is an antibody-rich serum extracted from the blood of horses after they have been injected with venom milked from snakes.
    Producing the animal-derived serum is an expensive and slow process that can take up to six months. The serum must be kept in low temperatures so storage and distribution make it expensive.
    Biologist Anibal Melgarejo, who works for Vital Brazil Institute, one of the three organizations that produce the serum in the country, said that not all victims respond well to such drug.
    "The anti-ophidic serum, the antivenom serum, is not like a physiological serum that anyone can handle. It's not like an aspirin that anyone can have -- it's not harmless. There are horses' proteins that could cause an allergic reaction which, sometimes, could be as strong as the poisoning," he said.
    The antivenom developed by Fuly and his students didn't provoke any sort of allergic reactions in rats and the team is confident it will work well in humans.
    The team now plans to expand the tests and try out the plant extract effectiveness with venoms from other snakes.
    Fuly said he hoped the new antidote could one day replace the traditional serum.
    "The goal of the research is that, in the future, we can use the barbatimao as an anti-ophidic (agent) -- whether as a complement to the serum therapy or as a substitute to this treatment," he said.
    In Brazil, nearly 25,000 people are bitten by snakes every year, 400 of which by the bushmaster snake.
    Even though the species is not as aggressive as the rattlesnake -- which is responsible for 90 percent of the attacks --, the bushmaster kills three times as many people.
    The bushmaster lives deep in the tropical jungle and can also be found in countries like Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela.
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