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From: zumone2002 on 16 Sep 2008 23:04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7618568.stm

Worm 'may help treat arthritis'

A substance secreted by parasitic nematode worms may help provide a
more effective treatment for inflammatory types of arthritis.

The molecule, ES-62, already circulates in the blood of millions of
people infected with the worms in the Tropics.

It prevents the massive inflammatory response that the worms are
otherwise capable of producing in conditions such as elephantiasis.

The Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde will carry out the
project.

Auto-immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple
sclerosis, tend to be rare in countries where parasitic worm
infections are endemic, and the researchers believe ES-62 may be key.

They aim to produce a synthetic derivative of ES-62 which could be
used to develop new drugs to combat rheumatoid arthritis.

They also hope the same approach could ultimately be fine-tuned to
treat other types of auto-immune diseases, using cocktails of several
ES-62 derived drugs.

ES-62 has no known adverse effect on general health, nor does it
inhibit the ability of infected people to fight other infections.

Thermostat

Researcher Professor William Harnett said: "We will be focusing on
mechanisms of combating hyper-inflammation that have developed
naturally and with apparent acceptance by humans during their co-
evolution with parasites."

Professor Iain McInnes, who will also be working on the project, said:
"ES-62 appears to act like a thermostat to effectively turn down
disease-causing inflammation which leaves essential defence mechanisms
intact to fight infection and cancer.

"This property also makes ES-62 a unique tool for scientists to
identify how such disease-causing inflammation occurs."
....

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Luke
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