Developing Small Molecule Therapeutics for the Initial and Adjunctive Treatment of Snakebite

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently added snakebite envenoming to the priority list of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). It is thought that ~75% of mortality following snakebite occurs outside the hospital setting, making the temporal gap between a bite and antivenom administration a major...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tommaso C. Bulfone, Stephen P. Samuel, Philip E. Bickler, Matthew R. Lewin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Journal of Tropical Medicine
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4320175
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The World Health Organization (WHO) recently added snakebite envenoming to the priority list of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). It is thought that ~75% of mortality following snakebite occurs outside the hospital setting, making the temporal gap between a bite and antivenom administration a major therapeutic challenge. Small molecule therapeutics (SMTs) have been proposed as potential prereferral treatments for snakebite to help address this gap. Herein, we discuss the characteristics, potential uses, and development of SMTs as potential treatments for snakebite envenomation. We focus on SMTs that are secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) inhibitors with brief exploration of other potential drug targets on venom molecules.
ISSN:1687-9686
1687-9694