Can cone snail poison be used to treat morphine addiction?

Krishna: Not for treating morphine addiction.

A sea snail living in the Pacific Ocean off the Philippines may be able to help scientists develop an alternative to addictive painkillers like morphine, a study concludes (1).

Conus rolani ; Image source: Google

One of the sea snail species is Conus rolani .

Researchers knew that poison from the sea snail species Conus magus could be used as a painkiller. It can replace morphine and opioids, and some patients experience fewer side effects.

Scientists found that poison from Conus rolani can function as a painkiller even better. The researchers have learned that a particular substance from the poison can block out pain in mice for an even longer time than morphine.

They have discovered a so-called toxin that blocks out pain in a completely different way than well-known drugs like morphine, and hopefully this will enable them to avoid some of the most damaging effects of morphine on humans.

Medicine based on the sea snail Conus magus is already available in the market for treatment of e.g. back injuries and cancer. But it is both expensive and difficult to work with because it has to be injected into the central nervous system via e.g. a spinal implant.

So even though we already have a drug based on a sea snail which for some people involves fewer side effects than morphine and opioids, it is not ideal due to the price and the circumstances.

Therefore, the researchers behind the new study hope the discovery of the effect of poison from Conus rolani can help them develop a more efficient painkiller.

It is a better alternative for people who are in great pain -- an alternative that is less addictive than e.g. morphine and opioids.

If people are addicted to morphine because of its pain-killing abilities, yes, snail poison can be used as an alternative pain killer.

Footnotes:

1. Iris Bea L. Ramiro et al. Somatostatin venom analogs evolved by fish-hunting cone snails: From prey capture behavior to identifying drug leads. Science Advances, 2022 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk1410