Estimates suggest that 80,000 to 140,000 people die each year from venomous snake bites, while another 400,000 suffer chronic injuries such as blindness or limb loss.
Despite the urgent need for researchers to develop antidotes, studying the way snake venom works has been challenging.
Now scientists from the Netherlands have designed a 3D model that replicates blood vessels to better understand how snake venom impacts blood.
The innovative ‘organ-on-a-chip’ model also eliminates the need for animal testing, say the scientists.
The study, developed by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, MIMETAS and Naturalis Biodiversity Center, was published today in Springer Nature.
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How does the technology work?
Lead author of the study and venom expert Mátyás Bittenbinder told BBC Wildlife that venomous snake bites typically cause severe internal bleeding by targeting the circulatory system, breaking down blood vessels and forming clots. "Understanding the components of snake venom better equips us to neutralise its toxins," says Bittenbinder.
The organ-on-a-chip technology offers significant advancements over traditional methods, such as animal testing or cell cultures, by accurately mimicking human blood vessels.
"The benefit of this blood vessel model for venom research is its ability to simulate several critical physiological factors," Bittenbinder explains. The 3D model enhances the understanding of how snake venom damages blood vessels, how it affects blood flow and its impact on the human body.
Researchers tested the blood vessel model with venoms from the Indian cobra (Naja naja), West-African carpet viper (Echis ocellatus), many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus) and Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica).
A cure for venomous snake bites?
The snake venom community has set out efforts to half the number of snakebite fatalities (that is currently surpassing 100,000) by 2030, Bittenbinder told BBC Wildlife.
"One of the major venom effects is severe (internal) bleeding which may even lead to death," says Bittenbinder. "With our new model, we hope to find ways in which we can effectively neutralise these 'haemotoxins' and mitigate the severe haematological effects."
The article ‘Bloody insights: using organ-on-chip technology to study haemorrhagic activities of snake venoms on endothelial tubules’ was published on 4 June in Springer Nature.
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