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Results, published Monday in Nature Genetics, suggest possible antiparasitic treatments to combat some of the most neglected tropical diseases, such as blindness . rivers, schistosomiasis and hookworm.
The largest study ever done on the genetic composition of parasitic worms revealed hundreds of new clues as to how they invade the human body. , avoid their immune system and cause illness.
The results, published on Monday in Nature Genetics, suggest possible antiparasitic treatments to combat some of the most neglected tropical diseases, such as the blindness of people with schistosomiasis and hookworm, which affect some 1,000 million people worldwide.
"Parasitic worms are among our oldest enemies and have evolved over millions of years to become expert manipulators of the human immune system," said Makedonka Mitreva, McDonnell Genome Institute University Washington, co-director of the study with colleagues from the British Institute Wellcome Sanger and the University of Edinburgh.
The expert stated that the results of this study would lead to a deeper knowledge of the biology of parasites as well as a better understanding of how the immune system of humans can be controlled or controlled .
Parasitic infections can last for many years and cause acute pain, physical disability, developmental delays in children, and social stigma badociated with the disease. deformity.
Current drugs to combat them can be moderately effective and, for men, they are donated by pharmaceutical companies or sold at a reduced price to those who need them. But the spectrum of drugs to treat parasitic infections is still limited.
In an attempt to improve the drug supply potential and understand how parasites invade and reside in humans and other animals, the team compared the genomes of 81 species. roundworms and flatworms, even those of 45 people who had never sequenced the genome yet.
The badysis revealed that nearly one million new genes had never been seen, belonging to thousands of new gene families.
"We focused our research on existing drugs against human diseases" said April Coghlan, of the Sanger Institute, who was working in the team. . And he said this offered a quick way "to locate existing drugs that could be reused for deworming."
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