Snail Toxins Reveal Novel Way To Fight Severe Nerve Pain

November 14, 2006

A brand new approach to treating severe nerve pain - by aiming drugs

at a previously unrecognized molecular target - has been discovered

by University of Utah scientists who study the venoms of deadly, sea-

dwelling cone snails.

" We found a new way to treat a chronic and debilitating form of pain

suffered by hundreds of millions of people on Earth, " says J.

McIntosh, a University of Utah research professor of

biology, and research director and professor in the Department of

Psychiatry. " It is a previously unrecognized mechanism for treating

pain. "

The findings are being published the week of Nov. 13 in the online

edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences.

The study in rats found that cone snail toxins named RgIA and Vc1.1

can treat nerve hypersensitivity and pain by blocking a molecule in

cells known as the " alpha9alpha10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. "

" The numerous analgesic compounds currently available are largely

ineffective " for chronic nerve pain, McIntosh and colleagues

write. " Our findings not only suggest a previously unrecognized

molecular mechanism for the treatment of neuropathic pain, but also

demonstrate the involvement of alpha9alpha10 nicotinic receptors " in

nerve injury.

McIntosh emphasized neither substance will be on the market soon.

Vc1.1, also known as ACV1, is being developed by an Australian

company, Metabolic, and is undergoing trials of its effectiveness in

human patients. While Metabolic has said the drug targets nicotinic

receptors, McIntosh says alpha9alpha10 nicotinic receptors have not

been reported previously as a target for any kind of painkilling

medication. McIntosh says Vc1.1 is administered by subcutaneous

(under the skin) injection.

McIntosh hopes the new findings make it feasible to develop a

painkiller based on RgIA that could be taken orally, but he believes

that will take at least 10 years.

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