Characteristic for parasitic worms, the AcK1 peptide may help people suffering from autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatism, according to The FASEB Journal.
Scientists have long known that infection with parasitic worms that can “disarm” the human immune system can improve the health of people with many autoimmune diseases – multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus. In these diseases, the immune system malfunctions, attacking and destroying its own tissues. This can be life-threatening.
According to one hypothesis, the increasing incidence of autoimmune diseases in industrialized countries may be associated with increasingly rarer parasitic infections there. Parasites are common in poor countries and autoimmune diseases are rare.
The team of prof. Ray Norton from the Monash Instiute of Pharmaceutical Science (Australia) was able to identify the AcK1 peptide, thanks to which the parasitic canine hookworms (Ancylostoma caninium) are not suppressed by the human immune system. It is enough for the peptide to block the sodium channel (Kv1.3).
The authors of the study hope that a drug containing the peptide they discovered could help people with autoimmune diseases. Similar properties have the peptide ShK produced by sea anemones, which is currently being tested in patients with multiple sclerosis. (PAP)