Protein Could be Effective in Warding off Parasitic Disease

A new study shows that a benign crystal protein may help to effectively fight against hookworm populations.

According to researchers from the University of California, San Diego, and La Jolla, CA, hookworms can infect more than 1 million people in poverty-stricken, tropical nations that suck the vitality from the body. These intestinal parasites known as helminthes can be quite dangerous as few relevant medications have been made by drug companies to address the problem. 

"The challenge is that any cure must be very cheap, it must have the ability to be mass produced in tremendous quantities, safe, and able to withstand rough conditions, including lack of refrigeration, extreme heat, and remote locations," said Raffi Aroian, a researcher on the study, via a press release. 

Background information from the study notes that prior research showed that the protein, Cry5B, can help kill intestinal nematode parasites-including human hookworms-that infected tested animals. This protein, which researchers believe to be safe for humans, is produced naturally in Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that is applied to crops as a natural insecticide on some organic farms, according to researchers.

This protein can be expressed in a species of bacterium that is closely related to Bacillus thuringiensis, and which is also related to bacteria that closely presents itself in some probiotics. Results showed that even a small dose of Cry5B expressed in the bacterium can achieve a 93 percent elimination of hookworm parasites from infected hamsters.

Study authors believe that the finding of this protein could help in the treatment of this and other parasitic diseases.

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.