In a novel study British researchers revealed that a toxin found in the venom of a formidable scorpion could hold the key to reduce heart bypass failure. The heart bypass is carried out to improve the blood flow to the heart in people suffering severe coronary artery disease who are at risk of heart attack.
A healthy artery from another part of the body is attached to the blocked coronary artery during the surgery. This new passage routes oxygenated blood around the blockage to the heart muscle. But the bypass surgery can fail if the vein graft gets blocked.
An impediment can grow if an injury response of the body causes too much cell growth. Currently the research team from the University of Leeds has found that toxin margatoxin that is found in the Central American bark scorpion could provide a solution to the problem.
The toxin can be no less than hundred times more effective than any other compound at preventing vein graft failure, reported the study published in Cardiovascular Research. It works by repressing the normal response of blood vessel to injury and keep the vein clear.
Margatoxin would possibly be inappropriate as a drug that could be inhaled swallowed or injected but it could potentially be taken ahead as a spray-on treatment to the vein itself once it has been detached and is waiting to be grafted onto the heart, said lead author Professor Beech.