Helminthotherapy of autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases will be treated with worms
The results obtained not only confirm the validity of the existence of "helminth therapy" of autoimmune diseases, but also open the way for their probiotic treatment. The work was published in The FASEB Journal (Chhabra et al., Kv1.3 channel-blocking immunomodulatory peptides from parasitic worms: implications for autoimmune diseases).
According to the popular "hygienic theory" of the origin of autoimmune and allergic diseases, the immune system of residents of countries with a high standard of living, less engaged in the constant fight against foreign infectious agents than provided for by evolutionary experience, is more prone to aggression against their own tissues and substances from the environment. The theory explains the sharp difference in the prevalence of such diseases between the population of "rich" and "poor" countries of the world. Within the framework of this hypothesis, the so-called "helminth therapy" of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus is unofficially practiced, in which patients are intentionally infected with parasites. It is believed that helminths, in order to ensure their own survival, suppress the activity of the host body's immune system.
Scientists from Monash University (Australia), in search of an alternative to infection with parasites during helminth therapy of autoimmune diseases, conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the secret secreted by a number of parasitic worms. In three species – Ancylostoma caninum, Ancylostoma ceylanicum and Brugia malayi – two peptides, AcK1 and BmK1, were isolated, the properties of which turned out to be similar to the protein ShK-186, a toxin previously isolated from a marine invertebrate, the Caribbean carpet anemone Stichodactyla helianthus. It has been established that this protein is a selective inhibitor (blocker) of potential-dependent potassium channels of Kv1.3 T cells of the immune system. Due to the action of ShK-186, the activity of immunity is weakened, as evidenced by the results of studies on an animal model of autoimmune diseases. The first phase of clinical trials of the use of ShK-186 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis is currently underway.
According to the authors of the study, on the basis of the isolated helminth peptides in the future, it is quite possible to create probiotic drugs to alleviate the symptoms of autoimmune diseases.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.08.2014