Review
State-of-the-art review - A review on snake venom-derived antithrombotics: Potential therapeutics for COVID-19-associated thrombosis?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.10.015Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Severely ill COVID-19 patients frequently develop thrombotic complications.

  • The clinical management of COVID-19-associated thrombosis is challenging with the existing anticoagulant drugs.

  • Snake venom proteins with unmatched specificity and lower toxicity can serve as potential candidates to address thrombosis.

  • Strategies for augmenting the therapeutic application of snake venoms antithrombotic agents is highlighted.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent responsible for the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has infected over 185 million individuals across 200 countries since December 2019 resulting in 4.0 million deaths. While COVID-19 is primarily associated with respiratory illnesses, an increasing number of clinical reports indicate that severely ill patients often develop thrombotic complications that are associated with increased mortality. As a consequence, treatment strategies that target COVID-associated thrombosis are of utmost clinical importance. An array of pharmacologically active compounds from natural products exhibit effects on blood coagulation pathways, and have generated interest for their potential therapeutic applications towards thrombotic diseases. In particular, a number of snake venom compounds exhibit high specificity on different blood coagulation factors and represent excellent tools that could be utilized to treat thrombosis. The aim of this review is to provide a brief summary of the current understanding of COVID-19 associated thrombosis, and highlight several snake venom compounds that could be utilized as antithrombotic agents to target this disease.

Keywords

COVID-19
Antithrombotic
Snake venom
Anticoagulant
Antiplatelet
Thrombosis

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