Snake’s blood can be instrumental in cardiac enlargement. This is the conclusion made by a group of scientists who have been studying the effect of the python’s blood plasma on mice’s internal organs. The research results are featured in the Science Magazine, and the ScienceNOW features a brief summary.

Involved in the research were several lab-grown Python molurus species. In nature, these serpents feed irregularly, so they can spend several weeks without food before they catch large prey. However, it takes a lot of functional readjustment for the body to digest so much food. As a result, metabolic rate grows 40 times faster than usual and some organs, including the heart and intestines, growing twice the usual size. These changes occur due to the necessity of distributing the nutrients around the body.

Fat acids are absorbed into the python’s blood soon after it swallows the prey. Scientists believe that some acids can contribute to cardiac enlargement. To test the hypothesis, they injected the plasma of just-fed pythons into their hungry counterparts’ blood system, which caused the hearts of the latter to increase in size.

Then the scientists attempted to use this growth elixir on other animals. According to the New Scientist, they applied pythons’ plasma to mice heart stem cells. The experiment resulted in more intensive production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a hormone, which causes the enlargement of organs. The cells themselves also grew in size.

Heart growth stimulants might be helpful in treatment of cardiac diseases. Most important, these substances do not cause scarring. Scars undermine the functioning of the heart, because scarred muscles do not contract properly.