Lethal cone snails may soon provide a new way of managing chronic pain thanks to the work of an internationally renowned researcher at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI) in Wollongong.
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A new state-of-the-art research lab with sensitive equipment is helping Professor David Adams study cell function and peptides in cone snail toxin as a way to block pain pathways
Chronic pain sufferers may not have to wait long for a safe alternative to morphine thanks to Prof Adams and his team who have been looking at the way sensory neurons transmit information so they can find new drugs to block them. And a lethal sea snail found in shells on the Queensland coastline is providing one solution.
“Cone snails actually inject venom into their prey. There have been a number of fatalities over the years where people have picked them (cone shells) up, put them in their pocket and have been stung by a cone snail,” Prof Adams said.
He started working in the area when he was at the University of Queensland for 15 years and chemists who studied cone snail venom found it contained up to 1000 unique peptides. “They came to me and said can you test what they do? As it turns out a number of these peptides are really potent analgesics. A group in the US got one of them approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of chronic pain. Previously the only relief they could get from pain was morphine. But a lot of people develop tolerance or addiction to opioids. So this is the alternative.”
Prof Adams said the trouble with the drug being used at the moment is it has to be delivered intravenously which means it has to be administered with a pump. So he and his team are working on peptides that can be delivered orally. “We are still at the stage of getting them into clinical trials. Cells have receptors that these peptides target.”
Peptides had the potential to provide a safer solution to chronic pain management and Prof Adams is being funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. He said there are only half a dozen labs in Australia where the kind of work he is engaged can be done.
IHMRI is an independent non-profit organisation that supports and facilitates health and management research between the university and the Illawarra and Shoalhaven health district. It gives the region access to world-leading research. A new clinical trial space is being launched at Wollongong Hospital in April to enable more clinicians access and support to help them test medications, processes and procedures on patients.
And an inaugural lunch at The Grange golf club on Monday is being hosted by IHMRI patron Dame Bridget Ogilvie to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The lunch will draw together leading, experienced female researchers and young women embarking on their research careers in a forum that will focus on gender equality in health and medical research, particularly in the Illawarra.
The scholarship and awards luncheon includes a keynote speaker, and panel discussion.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
