Crocodile Blood, HIV

Can crocodile blood  really fight HIV ? That is what this article is about. Although this web site is dedicated to the fight of night sweats and how we can fight the sweating, I found it very interesting and decided to add this page for your information.

Crocodile blood fights HIV

Australian scientists have discovered that crocodiles - as well as boasting a fine set of teeth and a nice line in drowning and subsequently consuming buffalo - have a highly robust immune system capable of seeing off some penicillin-resistant bacteria.

Crocs in Oz's Northern Territories need it, too, says US boffin Mark Merchant. He's been collecting crocodile blood with a view to its potential therapeutic properties, and told Reuters: "[Crocodiles] tear limbs off each other and despite the fact that they live in this environment with all these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally almost always without infection." blood crocodile hiv

Among the nasties which come to grief in the croc's system are penicillin-mocking Staphylococcus aureus. HIV, too, has a hard time of it, as Adam Britton of Darwin's Crocodylus Park, explains: "If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms."

Warming to the theme, Britton enthuses: "The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger."

Those readers wondering just how Merchant and Britton extract the blood from crocs without indulging in the zoological equivalent of putting a gun to their own heads and pulling the trigger, should note that crocodiles have a large vein behind the head - called a sinus - from which it's a simple matter of slurping out the vital essence with a big needle. After, of course, strapping the jaws shut...

Merchant and Britton hope one day to use croc serum to produce antibiotics for human use, although they admit it may currently be a bit too strong for our feeble bodies. Merchant concludes: "There is a lot of work to be done. It may take years before we can get to the stage where we have something to market." ®crocodile blood

crocodillin

Five years ago U.S. scientists isolated "crocodillin," a peptide in crocodile blood that has powerful antibacterial properties. Peptides, molecules formed from the linking of various amino acids, can be effective as antibiotics by penetrating and hence, destroying, the cell membranes of bacteria.

The crocodile's immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, preventing life-threatening infections after savage territorial fights which often leave the animals with gaping wounds and missing limbs.

"They tear limbs off each other and despite the fact that they live in this environment with all these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally almost always without infection," said US scientist Mark Merchant, who has been taking crocodile blood samples in the Northern Territory.

Initial studies of the crocodile immune system in 1998 found that several proteins (antibodies) in the reptile's blood killed bacteria that were resistant to penicillin, such as Staphylococcus aureus or golden staph, Australian scientist Adam Britton said. It was also a more powerful killer of the HIV virus than the human immune system. crocodile blood

"If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum, it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms," Dr Britton said from Darwin's Crocodylus Park, a tourism park and research center. blood crocodile hiv

Dr Britton said the crocodile immune system worked differently from the human system by directly attacking bacteria as soon as an infection occurred in the body.

"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said.

For the past 10 days Dr Britton and Dr Merchant have been carefully collecting blood from wild and captive crocodiles, both saltwater and freshwater species. After capturing a crocodile and strapping its powerful jaws closed, the scientists extract blood from a large vein behind the head.

"It's called a sinus, right behind the head, and it's very easy just to put a needle in the back of the neck and hit this sinus and then you can take a large volume of blood very simply," said Dr Britton.

The scientists hope to collect enough crocodile blood  to isolate the powerful antibodies and eventually develop an antibiotic for use by humans.

"We may be able to have antibiotics that you take orally, potentially also antibiotics that you could run topically on wounds, say diabetic ulcer wounds; burn patients often have their skin infected and things like that," said Dr Merchant.

However, the crocodile's immune system may be too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesized for human consumption. crocodile blood

"There is a lot of work to be done. It may take years before we can get to the stage where we have something to market," said Dr Britton.