A group of researchers from the Butantan Institute in Brazil has identified a substance extracted from the venom of a species of fish with anti-inflammatory properties that has been shown to be effective in treating asthma, official sources reported Thursday.
The protein was able to reduce by more than 75% the number of cells that, as a consequence of asthma, cause inflammation and damage in lung tissues, reported the scientific entity linked to the government of the state of Sao Paulo.
The results of a study to treat asthma with the TnP protein, derived from the venom of the pale-tip toadfish (“Thalassophryne nattereri”), popularly known as niquim in Brazil, were highlighted in an article published in the latest issue of the journal scientific Cells.
The protein was described in 2007 by the immunologists Carla Lima and Mónica Lopes Ferreira, researchers at Butantan, and synthesized in the laboratory by the organization, which patented it that same year.
Since then, various investigations by the entity have pointed to the particle as a potential candidate to successfully treat some chronic inflammatory diseases.
In the specific case of asthma, the researchers conducted tests with a group of animals with asthma treated with the particle, with another group treated with dexamethasone, which is the drug used to combat the disease, and with a third group that was given a placebo.
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In animals treated with TnP, in addition to a 75% reduction in the number of cells that cause inflammation and damage to lung tissues, the substance reduced the number of eosinophils by 100%, which are responsible for inflammation in half asthma patients.
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Treatment with the synthesized protein also reduced hyperplasia of mucus-producing cells in the bronchial tubes, something doctors believe is essential for relieving asthma symptoms.
Unlike conventional asthma therapies, which can cause symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, agitation, and headache, TnP had no adverse effects.
The niquim, whose venom has been studied by the Butantan Institute since 1996, is a poisonous fish that inhabits the Atlantic coast between northeastern Brazil and northwestern Colombia and, by hiding in holes in the sand and surviving up to 18 hours outside of the water, often causes accidents among bathers.
Contact with their spines causes sharp pain, a burning sensation, swelling, and tissue necrosis.