1
|
Silva GMD, Chowdhury A. Enhancing snakebite management: The role of small molecule therapeutics in complementing antivenom strategies. Toxicon 2024; 249:108081. [PMID: 39197595 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2024.108081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2024] [Revised: 08/21/2024] [Accepted: 08/25/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024]
Abstract
The variability in snake composition presents a significant challenge in accessing an effective broad-spectrum antivenom. These highly complex mixtures can result in numerous deleterious effects affecting thousands of individuals worldwide, particularly in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. While the administration of antivenom remains a recommended treatment for snakebite envenomation and is the primary means to prevent systemic damage, there are limitations concerning specificity, reversal of local effects, and economic factors that hinder the availability of these antibodies. In this review, we have compiled information on the use of small molecule therapeutics in initial first-aid treatments before antivenom administration. These enzyme inhibitors have shown promise as viable candidates to broaden our treatment approaches, simplify procedures, reduce costs, and improve the clinical outcomes of affected patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Glória Maria da Silva
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas-ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Abhinandan Chowdhury
- Adaptive Biotoxicology Lab, School of Environment, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia; Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Weekers DJC, Alonso LL, Verstegen AX, Slagboom J, Kool J. Qualitative Profiling of Venom Toxins in the Venoms of Several Bothrops Species Using High-Throughput Venomics and Coagulation Bioassaying. Toxins (Basel) 2024; 16:300. [PMID: 39057940 PMCID: PMC11280908 DOI: 10.3390/toxins16070300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2024] [Revised: 06/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Envenoming resulting from snakebites is recognized as a priority neglected tropical disease by The World Health Organization. The Bothrops genus, consisting of different pitviper species, is considered the most medically significant taxa in Central and South America. Further research into Bothrops venom composition is important to aid in the development of safer and more effective snakebite treatments. In addition, the discovery of Bothrops toxins that could potentially be used for medical or diagnostic purposes is of interest to the pharmaceutical industry. This study aimed to employ high-throughput (HT) venomics to qualitatively analyze venom composition while utilizing coagulation bioassays for identifying coagulopathic toxins and characterizing coagulopathic activity in various Bothrops venoms. Using the recently demonstrated HT venomics workflow in combination with post-column coagulopathic bioassaying, focus was placed at anticoagulant toxins. Well-known procoagulant toxins were also investigated, taking into account that using the HT venomics workflow, procoagulant toxins are especially prone to denaturation during the reversed-phase chromatographic separations performed in the workflow. The findings revealed that the venoms of B. atrox and B. jararaca harbored procoagulant toxins, whereas those of B. alternatus and B. neuwiedi contained both procoagulant and anticoagulant toxins. In general, anticoagulation was associated with phospholipases A2s, while procoagulation was associated with snake venom metalloproteinases and snake venom serine proteases. These results showed the identification of coagulopathic venom toxins in the Bothrops venoms analyzed using multiple analytical methods that complement each other. Additionally, each venom underwent qualitative characterization of its composition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dimoetsha J. C. Weekers
- Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Luis L. Alonso
- Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Centre for Analytical Sciences Amsterdam (CASA), 1012 WX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anniek X. Verstegen
- Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Julien Slagboom
- Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Centre for Analytical Sciences Amsterdam (CASA), 1012 WX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Kool
- Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Centre for Analytical Sciences Amsterdam (CASA), 1012 WX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Solano G, Cunningham S, Edge RJ, Duran G, Sanchez A, Villalta M, Clare RH, Wilkinson MC, Marriott AE, Abada C, Menzies SK, Keen M, Lalloo DG, Stienstra Y, Abouyannis M, Casewell NR, León G, Ainsworth S. African polyvalent antivenom can maintain pharmacological stability and ability to neutralise murine venom lethality for decades post-expiry: evidence for increasing antivenom shelf life to aid in alleviating chronic shortages. BMJ Glob Health 2024; 9:e014813. [PMID: 38485142 PMCID: PMC10941113 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Antivenom is a lifesaving medicine for treating snakebite envenoming, yet there has been a crisis in antivenom supply for many decades. Despite this, substantial quantities of antivenom stocks expire before use. This study has investigated whether expired antivenoms retain preclinical quality and efficacy, with the rationale that they could be used in emergency situations when in-date antivenom is unavailable. METHODS Using WHO guidelines and industry test requirements, we examined the in vitro stability and murine in vivo efficacy of eight batches of the sub-Saharan African antivenom, South African Institute for Medical Research polyvalent, that had expired at various times over a period of 30 years. RESULTS We demonstrate modest declines in immunochemical stability, with antivenoms older than 25 years having high levels of turbidity. In vitro preclinical analysis demonstrated all expired antivenoms retained immunological recognition of venom antigens and the ability to inhibit key toxin families. All expired antivenoms retained comparable in vivo preclinical efficacy in preventing the lethal effects of envenoming in mice versus three regionally and medically important venoms. CONCLUSIONS This study provides strong rationale for stakeholders, including manufacturers, regulators and health authorities, to explore the use of expired antivenom more broadly, to aid in alleviating critical shortages in antivenom supply in the short term and the extension of antivenom shelf life in the longer term.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Solano
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | | | - Rebecca J Edge
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Infection Biology and Microbiomes, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Gina Duran
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | - Adriana Sanchez
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | - Mauren Villalta
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | | | | | - Amy E Marriott
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Infection Biology and Microbiomes, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Camille Abada
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | | | - Molly Keen
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - David G Lalloo
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
- Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Ymkje Stienstra
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Guillermo León
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | - Stuart Ainsworth
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Infection Biology and Microbiomes, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Albulescu LO, Westhorpe A, Clare RH, Woodley CM, James N, Kool J, Berry NG, O’Neill PM, Casewell NR. Optimizing drug discovery for snakebite envenoming via a high-throughput phospholipase A2 screening platform. Front Pharmacol 2024; 14:1331224. [PMID: 38273832 PMCID: PMC10808766 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1331224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that causes as many as 1.8 million envenomings and 140,000 deaths annually. To address treatment limitations that exist with current antivenoms, the search for small molecule drug-based inhibitors that can be administered as early interventions has recently gained traction. Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins, peptides and small molecules and their composition varies substantially between and within snake species. The phospholipases A2 (PLA2) are one of the main pathogenic toxin classes found in medically important viper and elapid snake venoms, yet varespladib, a drug originally developed for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome, remains the only PLA2 inhibitor shown to effectively neutralise venom toxicity in vitro and in vivo, resulting in an extremely limited drug portfolio. Here, we describe a high-throughput drug screen to identify novel PLA2 inhibitors for repurposing as snakebite treatments. We present method optimisation of a 384-well plate, colorimetric, high-throughput screening assay that allowed for a throughput of ∼2,800 drugs per day, and report on the screening of a ∼3,500 post-phase I repurposed drug library against the venom of the Russell's viper, Daboia russelii. We further explore the broad-spectrum inhibitory potential and efficacy of the resulting top hits against a range of medically important snake venoms and demonstrate the utility of our method in determining drug EC50s. Collectively, our findings support the future application of this method to fully explore the chemical space to discover novel PLA2-inhibiting drugs of value for preventing severe pathology caused by snakebite envenoming.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura-Oana Albulescu
- Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Westhorpe
- Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel H. Clare
- Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | | | - Nivya James
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Jeroen Kool
- Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Neil G. Berry
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Paul M. O’Neill
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas R. Casewell
- Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|