Snake Venoms: Chemical Composition and Therapeutic Potential

INTRODUCTION: The healing properties of snake venom have been known since antiquity, making the snake a symbol of pharmacy and medicine. Snake venoms are complex mixtures con-taining proteins, peptides, enzymes and low molecular weight compounds. The study of these components has opened new perspectives in the development of drugs for the treatment of sev-eral diseases: for example, arterial hypertension and thrombosis. This review focuses on the chem-ical composition of snake venom and its potential medical uses in drug development. The article presents a literature review of relevant scientific articles found in databases such as PubMed, Medline, Springer, eLibrary, and Google Scholar. The mixture of toxins that make up snake venom is reviewed, with emphasis on the molecular structure, chemical reactivity and target recognition of the most bioactive toxins from which bioactive drugs can be developed. The mechanism of action of drugs derived from snake venom is shown. CONCLUSION: Studies of the major toxins found in venoms provide insight into how toxins act on their targets and how toxin action can be engineered to achieve therapeutic goals. Already approved and in development, snake venom-derived drugs demonstrate that toxic bioactivity can be converted into therapeutics. Large toxin molecules can be redesigned and reduced to their recognition motifs while maintaining affinity and specificity.