Did you know
That a certain specie of snail emits a certain venom that contains a painkiller that is at least a hundred times more powerful than morphine and it works at much lower doses and the good thing about it this painkiller works over a long period of time and without the risk of addiction. If you haven't noticed this is the trifecta of Painkiller.
Prialt more commonly known as Ziconotide is a powerful analgesic agent and is used when morphine no longer works. Its is based on a component in the venom of a marine snail which is called Conus Magus and belongs to the genus Conus which are predatory snails with neurotoxic venom.
Conus Magus uses the venom to paralyze their prey before consuming them. This specific neurotoxin is made of a hundred or more different peptides. For those of you who dont know, peptides are short strings of amino acids that form proteins. Most of the peptides inside the snail vemon are hamful to people but one particular peptide in the venom can dramatically reduce pain.
The now
Right now, Prialt is only used in cases of extreme, unrelenting chronic pain because there's still a puzzle that needs to be solved on this specific drug, because it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective membrane that prevents most compounds in the blood from entering the brain. That layer of protection prevents harmful substances from entering the brain but if Prialt does not get into the brain, it can't ease the pain. At this point the drug can only be delivered through an injection into the spinal column.
The potential
Scientists since then have been looking for an easier way in. They're using a trojan horse strategy in which they put the peptide inside of a carrier which is also called a viral nanocontainer. It's a tiny receptacle made from a proteins found in viruses, then they shuttle it across the blood-brain barrier. Using a cell-penetrating peptide taht can cut through all sorts of membranes. Including the higly selective blood-brain barrier.
The system seems to work in laboratory testings. The compound was still working in three days later in rats. Researchers are hoping to re-package the drug in the future inside a pill that you can swallow. These findings will lead to a new pain therapy for patients who had run out of options and it also offers a potential new pathway to prevent pain from developing. This could reduce the use of opioids, such as morphine which are addictive and can cause a number of serious side-effects.
Resources
Ziconotide | Conus Magus | Painkilla | Drug Potency