Two toxins from the tarantula species Heteroscodra maculata were found to specifically target Nav 1.1, a voltage-gated sodium channel in the nervous system to initiate the electrical impulses that signal pain.

Associate Professor Stuart Brierley said the study demonstrated that Nav 1.1 contributed to mechanical, but not thermal, pain signalling.

“Using the highly specific peptide in the spider toxin we were able to work out how pain nerve fibres signal in a healthy situation and also in chronic abdominal pain such as what you see in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),” Assoc Prof Brierley said.

“We found that the spider toxin was able to cause a lot more pain in the IBS state than what it was in the healthy state...

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