A new antidote to black widow spider venom is in the works Researchers have identified human antibodies that can neutralize the venom However, the antibodies don’t tend to work across all species of black widow WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- A potential human-specific antidote to black widow spider venom has been discovered, researchers report. They have identified an antibody that effectively neutralizes black widow venom in lab tests of cell cultures, according to a study published June 12 in the journal . This antibody, or ones like it, could eventually replace the horse-derived anti-venom currently used to treat people deathly ill from the bite of the black widow, said senior study author , a biologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig, in Germany.
Many patients bitten by black widows don’t receive the current anti-venom because it’s made from proteins derived from horses and can trigger serious allergic and immune system reactions, researchers explained in background notes. They set out to replace the horse-derived anti-venom “with recombinant human antibodies to get a better product for the patients and to avoid the use of horses for serum production,” Hust said in a journal news release. For this effort, researchers focused on the European black widow, which is largely found in the Mediterranean.
Using gene technology, researchers generated dozens of human antibodies that could neutralize alpha-latrotoxin, the venom generated by a blac.
