centipede venom as a potential pain killer
A compound extracted from the legs of centipedes could one day become a potent pain reliever, new research in mice suggests.
"The molecule we discovered was at least as good as, and sometimes significantly better than morphine," said study co-author Glenn King, a biochemist at the University of Queensland in Australia.
And unlike morphine or other painkillers, the centipede venom compound didn't seem to have side effects on the mice, or tend to create tolerance or addiction, King said.
Painful sting
With each nasty sting, centipedes produce just a few microliters of venom, which they release from their front pair of legs. Most people who've been bitten say it is excruciatingly painful.
But many venoms have intriguing physiological effects, so King and his colleagues have spent hours milking the venom of Chinese red-headed centipedes, and analyzing the hundreds of compounds in the substance to look for promising drug candidates.
"They're nasty little buggers to try to milk because they're so wiggly," King told LiveScience. "If you don't hold them down right, they can just turn around and bite you."
Special compound
One of the compounds in the venom seemed to block a specific sodium channel in cells, the researchers found. Centipedes likely evolved this venom molecule to kill insects, but in humans, this channel works by translating painful sensations to a feeling of pain in the brain. [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain]
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