Better blood thinning medication

Research from Switzerland and Australia, using tsetse flies, has uncovered a new way to prevent blood clotting that can also be easily switched on and off.

Blood-thinning medications, known as anticoagulants, prevent blood clotting and are crucial for managing heart diseases and strokes. However, they can lead to an increased risk of bleeding, particularly after surgeries when clotting is still needed.

A study from the University of Geneva and the University of Sydney, has developed an anticoagulant by binding together two small proteins (peptides): a synthetic one and one from tsetse flies, which use this peptide to collect blood for feeding.

This new drug can then be ‘deactivated’ on demand by using another peptide (antidote) that breaks the bond in the anticoagulant - particularly useful after surgical procedures.

This new approach was then successfully tested in human and mouse blood samples and live mice.

Nicolas Winssinger, at Geneva, and one of the lead researchers in this study, said: “(The) approach proposed is remarkably flexible and can be easily adapted to other therapeutic targets. It is particularly promising in the field of immunotherapy.”

The full article is published in Nature Biotechnology.