Thanks to hundreds of self-inflicted snake bites, a Wisconsin man has been able to donate his antibodies to science, leading to the “most broadly effective antivenom to date,” according to a press release.
New research published in Cell discusses the first use of human antibodies to help create an antivenom that can be effective against multiple species of venomous snakes, including black mamba, king cobra, and tiger snakes. Combined with a small molecule inhibitor, this could help create a universal antiserum.
Creating a Universal Antivenom
When working with a typical antivenom-making process, experts immunize either horses or sheep against one specific type of snake venom. From there, they then harvest those antibodies and create the antivenom. While this process has worked in the past, there have been some adverse effects because some people don’t react well to the non-human antibodies.
On top of that, the antivenoms are species-specific and may only be available in certain locations. This new antivenom could change all of that.
For years, Tim Friede has exposed himself to a variety of venomous snake bites, so much so, that he’s become hyper-immune to their neurotoxins.
“The donor [Tim Friede], for a period of nearly 18 years, had undertaken hundreds of bites and self-immunizations with escalating doses from 16 species of very lethal snakes that would normally kill a horse,” said Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, Inc and first author of the study, in a press release.
After Friede volunteered for the study, the research team found that he had antibodies that could protect him against several snake neurotoxins at one time.
“What was exciting about the donor was his once-in-a-lifetime, unique immune history,” said Glanville, in a press release. “Not only did he potentially create these broadly neutralizing antibodies, in this case, it could give rise to a broad-spectrum or universal antivenom.”
Read More: What To Do (and Not Do) If A Snake Bites You
Venomous Snake Species
To put together the antivenom, the research team created a testing panel of 19 of the world’s deadliest category one and two snakes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The snakes come from the elapid family and include cobras, mambas, taipans, coral snakes, and kraits — among other venomous species.
From there, the research team isolated Friede’s antibodies that reacted to neurotoxins from the snakes tested. The team then tested those antibodies on mice that had been envenomated with the venom of one of the 19 snakes in the panel. This process helped the research team assemble a cocktail that had the minimum number of components that were still sufficient enough to render the venom.
To complete the antivenom, researchers combined three components — two of Friede’s isolated antibodies with a small molecule called varespladib, a known toxin inhibitor. This molecule helps protect against venom from three of the 19 snakes. The first antibody, known as LNX-D09, helped protect the mice from the venom of six of the snake species in the panel, while the second antibody, SNX-B03, protected against the rest.
“By the time we reached 3 components, we had a dramatically unparalleled breadth of full protection for 13 of the 19 species and then partial protection for the remaining that we looked at,” Glanville said in a press release. “We were looking down at our list and thought, ‘what’s that fourth agent’? And if we could neutralize that, do we get further protection?”
According to the study, however, without that fourth component, the research team is confident this antivenom would protect against most neurotoxins in the elapid snakes not tested.
The Future of Antivenom
With the success of the antivenom in mouse trials, the research team is now hoping to move forward with testing in other animals, such as dogs that may have been bitten. They also hope to find a way to create a similar antivenom for snakes in the viper family.
“We’re turning the crank now, setting up reagents to go through this iterative process of saying what’s the minimum sufficient cocktail to provide broad protection against venom from the viperids,” said lead author Peter Kwong, a Richard J. Stock professor of medical sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and formerly of the National Institutes of Health, in a press release. “The final contemplated product would be a single, pan-antivenom cocktail, or we potentially would make two: one that is for the elapids and another that is for the viperids, because some areas of the world only have one or the other.”
Read More: New Antivenom Knocks Out Wide Range of Snake Toxins
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
A graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.
