Australia has a large number of particularly dangerous animal species to which has now been added a plant that secretes scorpion-like venom, which can cause excruciating pain for weeks, researchers have revealed.
It is enough to touch a leaf of the dendrocnidium to feel excruciating pain.
This kind of nettle, which is also found in some forests in the United States and Europe, is known by the native name of gympie-gympie.
But the species of dendrocnid found in Australia, especially in the rainforest of northeast Queensland, produces a much more potent toxin.
Very well known to hikers, it has large oval or heart-shaped leaves.
A team of Australian scientists have claimed to better understand the reasons why a gympie-gympie bite produces such intense pain.
The victims tell how they initially felt “a burning sensation, then over the hours a pain reminiscent of that felt when a part of the body is stuck in a car door which has been slammed,” researchers said Thursday. the University of Queensland.
Towards the end, which seems endless, the very act of taking a shower can rekindle the pain.
The gympie-gympie is covered with very fine needle-like hairs, similar to those of other nettles.
Tests to detect the presence of the most common irritants, such as histamines, have so far failed.
Irina Vetter, associate professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Queensland, said a team of researchers have discovered a new class of neurotoxic mini-proteins, which they have dubbed “gympietids”.
“Even though they come from a plant, gympietids are similar to toxins from spiders and conical sea snails in the way they fold into their 3D molecular structures and target the same pain receptors, which arguably does gympie-gympie a really poisonous plant ”, according to her.
Australia is already infamous for its poisonous wildlife, including snakes, jellyfish, blue-ringed octopuses, and funnel-web spiders.
A sting or bite from one of these strange creatures, however, rarely results in death.
Ms Vetter believes that the pain caused by this plant could be because the gympietids constantly change the chemical makeup of affected sensory neurons, and not because its hairs remain in the skin.
Scientists hope their research, published in the journal Sciences Advances, will help relieve the pain of people who are bitten.