According to new research from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, giving snake bite victims oral medication in the form of “dimercaprol (also called British anti-Lewisite) and its derivative 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid (DMPS)” was found to temporarily inhibit the efficacy of snakebite venom from vipers. Further, the drug was found to be even more potent when later combined with traditional antivenom medication.
The team’s paper suggests that DMPS could be repurposed as an oral medicine for treating snakebite victims soon after a bite, and before they travel to a healthcare facility. While antivenom may still be needed once the patient arrives at a clinical setting, early treatment with DMPS has the potential to save lives and limbs in the world’s poorest communities by removing treatment delays.
Even here in the US, for people hiking or working in snaky areas, this could help a lot of people.
2 comments:
Plenty of rattlesnakes around here. If this is right, could be useful stuff to have. Did some extra reading and I'm guessing that the dimercaprol (which is a chelation drug) binds to the metalloprotease in viper venom.
Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouth. Agreed, would be real handy to have when working/hunting/fishing/hiking in a lot of places.
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