Talk about an unlikely hero.<\/p>\n
Tapeworms are often the bane of the health world, from ill-advised use to achieve a slim waist to inflicting terrible neurological symptoms<\/a> like headaches, confusion, seizures and death.<\/p>\n Medication used for the little larvae could provide relief for a disease with debilitating pain and no cure that experts have deemed a clinical failure for millions of women.<\/p>\n Medication for tapeworm infections could also provide relief for a debilitating condition that affects millions of women. Drazen \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Despite 1 in 10 women of reproductive age worldwide<\/a> suffering, Dr. Sheeva Talebian, board-certified reproductive endocrinologist, previously told The Post<\/a> that symptoms of endometriosis are often unreported and misdiagnosed.<\/p>\n A new study<\/a>, though, has found a promising treatment for the progressive, inflammatory disease that could directly target the painful lesions growing outside the uterus.<\/p>\n Published in August in the journal Advanced Healthcare Material, researchers fitted niclosamide<\/a>, an FDA-approved anti-worm drug, with nanotech armor for use in mice.<\/p>\n The medication reduced inflammation and slowed or prevented further spread of the lesions \u2014 a boon for the condition whose existing treatments merely alleviate symptoms, albeit with side effects.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s no cure for endometriosis, current remedies like hormonal medications stall the menstrual cycle to limit the growth of lesions, while surgeries<\/a> can remove the lesions themselves or parts of the reproductive system to manage pain.<\/p>\n However, the medications can often cause side effects, like nausea and mood swings. Meanwhile, lesions can keep growing after surgery.<\/p>\n These adverse effects prompted the need for an additional option.<\/p>\n A new treatment for endometriosis was discovered by restructuring the common tapeworm medication niclosamide. ggw \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Previous research<\/a> in mice found a group of rogue immune cells specific to endometrial lesion tissue that drove growth and turbocharged the painful inflammation.<\/p>\n Researchers also discovered a unique chemical label in the cells called a folate receptor, which made them a potential target for drugs \u2014 specifically, niclosamide.<\/p>\n Clinicians had already been testing whether this drug could be used for other conditions<\/a> beyond tapeworm infections, making it a potential treatment for endometriosis.<\/p>\n The drug reduced inflammation and slowed the growth of lesions outside the uterus, two hallmark signs of endometriosis. megaflopp \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Working with nanomedicine specialists, the team worked to restructure niclosamide so it could dissolve better in blood by attaching it to a molecule known as a dendrimer.<\/p>\n A folate receptor was also added so the modified medication targeted the rogue immune cells in endometrial lesion tissue.<\/p>\n The final medication is similar to someone riding in a carshare, according to Anjali Sharma, a nanomedicine specialist at the University of Michigan who worked with the research team to develop the medication.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically, the dendrimer is like the Uber, the folate is like the GPS, and the drug is like the passenger,\u201d Sharma told Live Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drug is attached in such a way that when it is in systemic circulation, nothing happens until it goes inside the diseased cells,\u201d Sharma said.<\/p>\n Once there, it is slowly released inside the cell over a period of two weeks.<\/p>\n In mouse models, a single injection of the drug directly targeted affected endometrial tissue, dramatically reducing pain and slowing, or even entirely stopping, the growth of new lesions.<\/p>\n However, there\u2019s still significant work to do to ensure the medication can be used on humans \u2014 namely the fact that mice don\u2019t menstruate or develop endometriosis.<\/p>\n The researchers believe the drug still shows immense promise, though.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of potential in repurposing of drugs that have been tested in clinical trials to see if they would be effective in endometriosis,\u201d Ioannis Simitsidellis, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh\u2019s Centres for Reproductive Health and Inflammation Research who wasn\u2019t involved in the study, told Live Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even at such an early stage in the process, the researchers have received hundreds of emails asking to join future trials.<\/p>\n Next steps would be testing the medication in larger sample sizes and then, if the results are promising, clinical trials on humans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Talk about an unlikely hero. 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