Scientists discover new method to kill drug-resistant parasites

Toronto: Scientists in Canada have discovered a metabolic pathway that will allow the development of drugs that target parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms, which affect over one billion people across the world.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over one billion people, including 880 million children, are infected with intestinal nematode worms.

The infections are especially common in the developing world due to a lack of clean water and sanitation. If left untreated, they can leave a lasting mark on health and can also be lethal.

"We serendipitously discovered a new way to kill these parasites without harming the human host," said Andy Fraser, professor at the University of Toronto in Canada.

"These parasites pose a major global health burden and as their resistance to the available drugs continues to grow, so does the need to develop new therapies," he said.

The study, published in the journal eLife, was led by three graduate students Samantha Del Borrello, Margot Lautens and Kathleen Dolan, and in collaboration with Amy Caudy, also a professor of molecular genetics in the Donnelly Centre.

Fraser's team was testing their new method for unpicking how drugs affect the movement of a nonparasitic nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, used as a stand-in for humans by researchers across the world.

The first drug they tried was cyanide because its effects are well known and they wanted to make sure the new system works. Cyanide blocks respiration and, as expected, when added to the lab dish containing the worms, it quickly paralysed them. But to the researchers' surprise, the worms did not die. They resumed wriggling

about as if nothing happened when the drug was washed out 24 hours later.