Snails and plants used to make analgesic

BRISBANE, Australia, April 23 (UPI) -- Australian medical scientists say they are using molecules from cone snail venom and African plants to develop an oral drug to treat chronic pain.

University of Queensland Professor David Craik and Richard Clark from Australia's Institute for Molecular Bioscience said studies on the molecule they've developed show it's effective in relieving neuropathic pain in animals.

"Regular pain occurs when the nervous system is stimulated by, for example, an injury, whereas neuropathic pain occurs when the nervous system itself is damaged," said Clark. "Current treatments in neuropathic pain only provide meaningful relief for one in three patients, and … have serious side effects, as well as taking up to three weeks to begin to take effect."

Scientists know cone snail venom peptides can target receptors with a high degree of accuracy, thus eliminating severe side effects. But peptides also degrade rapidly in the body. Craik and Clark said they've overcome that problem by engineering a circular peptide from a circular protein discovered by Craik in plants such as violets.

Clark said a successful outcome from the research will allow them to secure a commercial partner and develop the molecule into a tablet for sufferers of neuropathic chronic pain.