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.
