JOIN USA drug made from the venom of the world’s deadliest spider could hold the cure for impotency, researchers have claimed.
Researchers from Brazil and the US found that venom from the Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) can produce toxins that could have a blood-boosting effect and can combat erectile dysfunction within 20 minutes of entering the body, the Daily Mail reported.
The spider is responsible for killing more people than any other arachnid. Victims usually die within an hour of being bitten.
Tests carried out on rats show the venom boosts performance by increasing the release of nitric oxide, a chemical that dilates blood vessels and improves blood flow.
This is similar to how existing impotence drugs work.
Although drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra have revolutionised treatment for impotency in the last 10 years, around 30 per cent of men who take them see no improvement.
A drug made from spider venom could prove to be an effective alternative.
Researchers extracted the toxin, called PnTx2-6, from the deadly venom and injected it into rats which had age-related erectile dysfunction.
They found the toxin boosted erections by triggering the release of nitric oxide, which boosts circulation in the male genitals by helping blood vessel walls relax.
“The decrease in erectile function associated with age was partially restored 15 to 20 minutes after injection with PnTx2-6,” the researchers were quoted as saying by the paper.The study was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.