By Hannah MillingtonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberCOVID vaccine technology could help reduce disabilities in people caused by injuries from snakebites.
Researchers at the University of Reading, England, found that the same mRNA tech used in coronavirus vaccinations could help to prevent muscle damage in snakebite victims and the knock-on impacts that linger even after treatment.
They tested whether this could be used to protect against the damage from the bite of the terciopelo (Bothrops asper) snake, found in Central and South America, though they hope a future version would protect against multiple venom elements.
The treatment could “significantly” limit the physical harm caused by snakebites, which kill around 140,000 people worldwide and cause 400,000 permanent disabilities each year, according to the researchers.
...“Specific mRNA has been designed to express antibodies against a myotoxin from the venom of the Bothrops asper snake and it was wrapped with lipid nanoparticles. They were administered in cultured cells and found to express the desired antibodies, providing protection against both venom and myotoxin-induced damage,” study author Sakthi Vaiyapuri, cardiovascular and venom pharmacology professor of the University of Reading told Newsweek.
“When injected into mice two days before the myotoxin administration, these mRNA-lipid nanoparticles offered excellent protection against the damage. Therefore, this could be a potential method for developing toxin-specific antibodies in the local tissues around bites to protect people from deadly snakebites in the future.”
While current antivenoms—medical treatments for venomous bites and stings made from the antibodies—work well against toxins in the bloodstream, the researchers highlight they struggle to reach damaged muscle tissue around the bite site.
Vaiyapuri explained these antibodies might bind to other similar toxins in different venoms to some extent, but added they plan to develop a mixture of mRNA molecules to create “broadly neutralising antibodies” against multiple venom toxins in the future.
"We tested this treatment on snake venom, but this technology could be even more useful for other conditions where toxins cause harm gradually. For example, it might help block harmful toxins produced by bacteria during infections,” added study author Andreas Laustsen, biotech and biomedicine professor of the Technical University of Denmark in a statement.
In lab tests using human muscle cells, the treatment reduced damage from both a single toxin and whole venom and the protective antibodies appeared within 12–24 hours of mRNA injection, the team found.
In mice, just one injection of mRNA protected muscle tissue from toxin-induced injury when given 48 hours before exposure to the venom. The treatment also reduced key signs of muscle damage.
The mice that received the mRNA treatment before being exposed to the toxin showed lower levels of enzymes like creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, which are released when muscle is injured, while it preserved healthy muscle structure.
The researchers acknowledged challenges to overcome include the fact antibodies take hours to develop, storage in remote areas without refrigeration may be difficult and as stated the current form of the treatment targets only one toxin.
However, Vaiyapuri said, “the potential to reduce disabilities among snakebite victims is significant.”
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Reference
Almeida, J. R., Sørensen, C. V., Gilabadi, S., Williams, J., Bin Haidar, H., von Bülow Møiniche, M., Benard-Valle, M., Rivera-de-Torre, E., Schultz, D., Urquhart, A., Lomonte, B., Patel, K., Laustsen, A. H., & Vaiyapuri, S. (2025). Intramuscular delivery of mRNA-encoded single-chain variable fragments prevents myotoxin II-induced skeletal muscle damage in a preclinical model. Trends in Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.10.017
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