Keep pulling the thread on Helena Safafi.
Prialt is an FDA-approved drug for pain that was discovered at the University of Utah and is derived from cone snail venom.
A newly discovered toxin from cone snail venom, a consomatin, mimics the sequence of the human neuropeptide somatostatin.
The venom-derived consomatin peptide targets the somatostatin-4 (SSTR4) and somatostatin-1 (SSTR1) receptors.
A peptide called consomatin fj1 was identified that is very potent at the somatostatin 4 receptor, with nanomolar potencies, and is fairly selective over the somatostatin 1 receptor.
An analog of consomatin fj1 was developed that has a picomolar EC50 at the somatostatin 4 receptor, making it the most potent and selective peptide ligand known for this receptor to date.
Unlike conventional local anesthetics, Site-1 sodium channel blockers like tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin do not cause cardiac arrhythmias, seizures, or local tissue injury.
A single injection of a liposomal formulation containing only saxitoxin provided two days of local anesthesia in a rat sciatic nerve block model.
Adding a small amount of dexamethasone to a liposomal saxitoxin formulation extended the duration of a nerve block to one week from a single injection.
A liposomal formulation of tetrodotoxin provided a nerve block that wore off completely in 21 days, with a half-maximal effect at 13 days.
Rats injected with a long-acting liposomal formulation received 40 times the lethal dose of tetrodotoxin without showing signs of toxicity.
A triggerable nerve block system using liposomes with tetrodotoxin and a photosensitizer allows for the re-establishment of anesthesia by shining near-infrared light on the injection site.
A liposomal formulation releasing Site-1 sodium channel blockers provided 18 days of slowly decreasing anesthesia with almost no associated motor block.