Leprosy bacteria’s novel liver-regenerating properties could “replace transplantation” and be the next step to higher life expectancy, experts say. A team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh working with the US Department of Health and Human Services in Louisiana, found the parasite stimulated the liver’s innate ability to regenerate, resulting in a healthy and functional organ.
The phenomenon works through the bacteria’s ability to perform ‘biological alchemy’, the process through which it transforms certain types of bodily tissues into fully functional others. The researchers tested this process by infecting 57 armadillos, the only other known host for the parasite. They then compared the differences between the livers of those successfully infected, healthy armadillos and those resistant to the infection.
The results showed the infected animals developed perfectly healthy and unharmed livers, containing the same blood vessels and bile ducts necessary for the organ’s function.
Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is especially resilient, dating back 4,000 years according to evidence from a human skeleton uncovered in India in 2009.The disease affects the nerves, skin, eyes and lining of the nose of those infected, and is still relatively prevalent today, registering 140,546 new cases in 2021 alone, mainly in African and South-East-Asia regions.
Professor Anura Rambukkana, the study’s lead researcher from the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: “The dream is to use the same bacterial strategy, to use the ingenuity of bacteria to generate new medicines for regeneration and repair.”Experts hope this discovery could mark a massive increase in quality of life and life expectancy, perhaps becoming a normal part of everyday life.
Dr Zania Stamataki, an associate professor at the Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research at the University of Birmingham, said: “This is exciting research and unusual in the fact that it shows liver growth in the absence of liver injury. Nevertheless, researchers remain sceptical and cautious Dr Darius Widera, an associate professor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Reading said: “ [T]he research has been done using armadillos as model animals, it is unclear if and how these promising results can translate to the biology of the human liver.”