Sometimes heroes come from the most unlikely places. Such is the case with a new study from Baylor College of Medicine which found that one of the hundreds of components in scorpion venom may be able to reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis. The findings were published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
In rheumatoid arthritis, cells called fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) grow in joints, secreting products that damage the joints and attract immune cells that cause inflammation and pain. While there are currently treatments for the condition that block immune cells, none have been developed that block FLS directly.
Building on previous work, in which they found a potassium channel on FLS important for development of rheumatoid arthritis, the researchers reasoned that venom from animals such as scorpions that block potassium and other ion channels may be able to curtail disease progression.
The team isolated a component in the venom called iberiotoxin that blocks the potassium channel of FLS, but not that of other cells. When rat models were treated with iberiotoxin, progression of the disease stopped and in some cases signs of the disease were reversed. This treatment also did not induce side effects, such as tremors and incontinence, associated with another channel blocker called paxilline.
"Although these results are promising, much more research needs to be conducted before we can use scorpion venom components to treat rheumatoid arthritis," said Dr. Christine Beeton at Baylor College of Medicine. "We think that this venom component, iberiotoxin, can become the basis for developing a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in the future."