Two existing drugs offer hope to cure Russell's viper bites

Studies carried out in mice have demonstrated that two approved drugs — varespladib and marimastat — were effective in countering systemic and lethal effects of Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) venom either individually or in combination.

- 

The two drugs were tested against Russell's vipers venom sourced from different States across India. Russell's vipers are responsible for over half of India’s snakebite cases. The study led by Dr. Kartik Sunagar, Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences at IISc, Bangalore, was published recently in the journal Communications Medicine.

Dr. Sunagar and his team are now working with ICMR to design a human clinical trial to test the two drugs. “During the trial, the drugs will be used as an ancillary treatment to determine how effective they would be in treating snakebites,” he says. The control group control will receive only the antivenom but not the drugs.Phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and Snake Venom Metalloproteinase (SVMPs) are two main components of Russell's viper snake venom. These toxins interfere with components of the blood clotting cascade to induce anticoagulant and haemorrhagic effects in humans. While the varespladib drug inhibits PLA2, the marimastat drug inhibits SVMP. Venom influencing factors