Snake venom may replace aspirin

Scientists at the National Taiwan, China University have found that snake venom can provide a safer alternative to drugs like aspirin that help prevent blood clots in heart disease patients.

Antiplatelet drugs prevent blood cells called platelets from clumping together and are widely used to treat heart disease.

Previous research has found that trowaglerix, a protein in the venom of the Tropidolaemus waglerix snake, stimulated platelets to form blood clots by latching onto GPVI.

The team designed a molecule based on the structure of trowaglerix to block GPVI activity. It prevented platelets from clotting when it was mixed with blood.

They found that the mice administered with this new drug had slower blood clot formation compared to untreated mice. In addition, the treated mice did not bleed longer than untreated mice.

The researchers are optimizing the design to ensure that the molecule only interacts with GPVI and not other proteins which can cause unintended reactions.