Work

Nuclear option prevents hyperinfection in the Strongyloides worm war

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Humans are fighting a grinding war against parasitic nematodes. More than 100 species of nematode parasites are known to infect humans. Additionally, 1.5 billion people are infected by soil-transmitted helminths worldwide that cause an annual disease burden of 5 million years lost due to disability (YLD) (1). This disease burden is greater than the annual disease burdens of malaria (4 million YLD) and HIV/AIDS (4.5 million YLD). The soil-transmitted parasite infections crush human health, productivity, and educational development (2). Currently, there are no fully effective vaccines against nematode parasites, and in the absence of adequate sanitation, drug treatment is the main method of control. Despite the numerous soil-transmitted parasitic infections, there are only a few drugs to treat them. Treatment is based on three main classes of drug (anthelmintic): the benzimidazoles (albendazole and mebendazole), the macrocyclic lactones (ivermectin), and the nicotinic compounds (pyrantel). There are concerns about the regular use of these three classes of compounds for mass dose administration because of the potential for development of drug resistance (3). There is a real and urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches to be developed to control these parasites. An innovative model and original therapeutic approach is described in PNAS by Patton et al. (4), who show that the nematode parasite, Strongyloides stercoralis (5), which causes a deadly hyperinfection in immunocompromised humans, can be accurately modeled in NOD.Cg- PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl /SzJ (NSG) mice, and wonderfully, can be controlled by a DAF-12 nuclear receptor agonist, Δ7-dafachronic acid. This approach provides a novel strategy for treating these lethal hyperinfections and perhaps other parasitic nematodes. Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted nematode, currently infecting some 30–100 million people in countries like Vietnam, Central America, and Africa in rural … [↵][1]1Email: rjmartin{at}iastate.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1719538115

Author: Richard John Martin

Institution: Iowa State University

Language: English

Topic: Parasites and Host Interactions

Subfield: Parasitology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Iowa State University, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases