Parasitic worm disease treatments studied
Published: March 17, 2008 at 9:45 AM
BETHESDA, Md., March 17 (UPI) -- Scientists led by the U.S. Human Genome Research Institute have identified new leads for treating parasitic worm disease.
The researchers identified chemical compounds that hold promise as potential therapies for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic disease that afflicts more than 200 million people worldwide.
Scientists from Illinois State University and the National Institute of Health's Chemical Genomics Center found chemical compounds known as oxadiazoles can inhibit an enzyme vital to survival of Schistosoma, a group of parasitic flatworms that cause schistosomiasis.
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever, affects an estimated 207 million people, most of whom live in developing nations in tropical areas. People become infected with Schistosoma when they wade, swim or bathe in fresh water inhabited by snails, which serve as the worms' intermediate hosts.
The research is reported in the journal Nature Medicine.
The researchers identified chemical compounds that hold promise as potential therapies for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic disease that afflicts more than 200 million people worldwide.
Scientists from Illinois State University and the National Institute of Health's Chemical Genomics Center found chemical compounds known as oxadiazoles can inhibit an enzyme vital to survival of Schistosoma, a group of parasitic flatworms that cause schistosomiasis.
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever, affects an estimated 207 million people, most of whom live in developing nations in tropical areas. People become infected with Schistosoma when they wade, swim or bathe in fresh water inhabited by snails, which serve as the worms' intermediate hosts.
The research is reported in the journal Nature Medicine.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
In this image from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, Cyclone Nargis is pictured when it was a Category one hurricane located 370 miles west of Yangon, Myanmar on May 1, 2008. Tropical Cyclone Nargis flooded the region on May 4, 2008. The death toll from the cyclone and its aftermath is feared to hit or exceed 100,000 lives. (UPI Photo/NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team)
NASA satellite images show Tropical Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
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