Brazilian Spider Venom May Cure Your Impotence

The spider venom works in a different way to PDE-5 inhibitors...

At Ukmedix News we reported last month about the black widow spider whose venom can have some strange side effects. Researchers from Israel noted that men who had been bitten by a black widow spider (but not badly enough to actually die as a result), were found to have a problem with a persistent erection on being admitted into hospital. It appears that other scientists are taking a keen interest in the spider bite phenomenon but this time they are using the venom of a Brazilian spider and the scientists say that they have located the compound that causes the erections.

In Brazilian hospitals doctors and nurses are very good at spotting men who has been bitten by the rare Brazilian wandering spider known as Phoneutria nigriventer in scientific circles, as not only are the patients in pain and suffering from a blood pressure increase but they also have an unwanted and embarrassing erection. The research that is being undertaken at the Medical College of Georgia is very exciting as it is likely to end up with a new remedy for curing erectile dysfunction. The researchers divided up all the chemicals and compounds in the spider venom and one by one administered the different substances to a whole selection of rats to see what effects were noted.

When the rats were injected with a very small amount of the compound they called Tx2-6 the rats experienced erections and thus the scientists located the active compound.  Tx2-6 is a chain of amino acids known in scientific circles as a peptide. The scientists also inserted extremely tiny devices into the penis of each rat which measured the change of pressure in blood flow. Also noted was that there was a rise in the amount of nitric oxide in the main cylinders that run along the length of the penis known as corpora cavernosa. Nitric oxide plays a very significant part in maintaining a good sexual function and without it is not possible for a man to get an erection.

What makes this research so exciting is that the spider venom works in a different way to PDE-5 inhibitors  like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.  For some men these drugs don’t work and therefore this new research could open up new avenues to help these men with erectile dysfunction. Ukmedix News will be searching for more news on this exciting research and will keep readers up to date on any new developments.