Scorpions carry a healthy sting in tail

Scorpion venom could be the key to reducing heart bypass failures.

A study by Leeds University has found that a toxin in the venom of the Central American bark scorpion (Centruroides margaritatus) is at least 100 times more potent at preventing the most common cause of bypass graft failure than any other known compound.

The research, published online in Cardiovascular Research, yesterday shows margatoxin's potential for preventing neointimal hyperplasia, which is a blood vessel's natural response to injury.

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Professor David Beech, from the university's faculty of biological sciences, explained how when a vein is grafted onto the heart during a bypass procedure the injury response kicks in as the vein tries to adapt to the new environment and different circulatory pressures.

This growth of new cells helps to strengthen the vein but the internal cell growth restricts blood flow and ultimately causes the graft to fail.

Prof Beech said the finding was a surprise: "It's staggeringly potent. We're talking about needing very few molecules in order to obtain an effect."

He added that margatoxin would probably be unsuitable as a drug that could be swallowed, inhaled or injected. But, he said, it could potentially be taken forward as a spray-on treatment to the vein itself once it has been removed and is waiting to be grafted onto the heart.

The British Heart Foundation, which helped fund the study, says 25,000 coronary artery bypass grafts are carried out each year in the UK.