Parasitic worms could offer a new treatment hope for patients suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, scientists believe.
Academics at The University of Nottingham have begun recruiting people suffering from the neurological condition on to a trial that will see them infected with a low, harmless dose of the helminth parasite Necator americanus or hookworm.
The scientists are hoping to prove that the presence of hookworms in the body switches off the mechanism by which the body's immune system becomes overactive the main cause of MS and can reduce both the severity of symptoms and the number of relapses experienced by the patients.
The study is being led by Cris Constantinescu, Professor of Neurology in the University's School of Clinical Sciences and a leading MS expert, and David Pritchard, Professor of Parasite Immunology in the University's School of Pharmacy, who has spent decades studying the biology of the hookworm.
Professor Pritchard said: "This study appears counter-intuitive we are introducing a parasite which is by definition harmful, to act as a stimulus to moderate disease. As a safeguard the hookworms are being used in carefully controlled and monitored conditions, and if successful could herald a much-needed therapy for MS patients.
"Currently, there are many MS patients for whom conventional medicines are ineffective or are associated with unwanted side effects. Hookworms have an innate ability to moderate the immune system to allow them to survive in the body for years. This moderation may have a bystander effect on the progression of MS."
The study team is in the process of recruiting more than 70 patients from the Nottingham and Derby areas who suffer from the most common type of the disease, relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), in which patients symptoms such as vision problems, dizziness and fatigue, appear and then fade away either partially or completely, and sec
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| Contact: Emma Thorne emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk 44-115-951-5793 University of Nottingham Source:Eurekalert |
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