Venom from scorpions cuts bypass rejections

Scorpion venom could be the key to cutting heart bypass failures, according to new research.

A Leeds University study found a toxin in the venom of the Central American bark scorpion (Centruroides margaritatus) is at least 100 times more potent at preventing the most common cause of bypass graft failure than any other known compound.

Its findings, published online in Cardiovascular Research, shows margatoxin's potential for preventing neointimal hyperplasia, which is a blood vessel's natural response to injury.

Professor David Beech, from the university's faculty of biological sciences, explained how when a vein is grafted onto the heart during a bypass procedure the injury response kicks in as the vein tries to adapt to the new environment and different circulatory pressures.

This growth of new cells helps strengthen the vein but the internal cell growth restricts blood flow and ultimately causes the graft to fail.

Prof Beech said the potency of the margatoxin in suppressing the injury response was a surprise.

He said: "It's staggeringly potent. We're talking about needing very few molecules in order to obtain an effect."

Prof Beech, who is professor of molecular and cellular physiology in the Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, said margatoxin would probably be unsuitable as a drug that could be swallowed, inhaled or injected.

But, he said, the compound could potentially be taken forward as a spray-on treatment to the vein itself once it has been removed and waiting to be grafted onto the heart.