Scientists Decode DNA of Blood-Sucking Hookworm

Researchers may have found a way to help fight off the blood-sucking hookworm, a parasite that afflicts an estimated 700 million of the world's poor. They've managed to decode the hookworm's genome, revealing how it infects and survives in humans. This could help aid in development of new therapies to combat hookworm disease.

"We now have a more complete picture of just how this worm invades the body, begins feeding on the blood and successfully evades the host immune defenses," said Makedonka Mitreva, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This information will accelerate development of new diagnostic tools and vaccines against the infection."

The usual deworming drug, called albendazole, is typically given as part of mass treatment programs in areas of endemic infection. Yet its repeated and excessive us can lead to treatment failures and drug resistance in some regions. That is why developing new therapies is extremely important.

In order to learn a bit more about hookworms, the researchers took a multipronged approach to understand different aspects of how the hookworm invades the body, feeds on the blood and evades the host's immune system. They decoded the worm's genome, which allowed them to discover suites of genes that orchestrate each of these processes and identify specific targets that may be vulnerable to vaccines or new drug treatments.

"We also prioritized those drug targets to that scientists can quickly follow up on ones that appear to be most promising," said Mitreva in a news release.

In fact, the scientists identified a group of molecules that appears to protect the worm from detection by the host immune system. They evade notice by suppressing molecules by promoting inflammation. This information could be used not only to treat hookworms, but also may prove valuable when it comes to the treatment of autoimmune conditions.

"It is our hope that new research can be used as a springboard not just to control hookworm infections but to identify anti-inflammatory molecules that have the potential to advance new therapies for autoimmune and allergic diseases," said Mitreva in a news release.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Genetics.