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Showing posts with label TSO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TSO. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 June 2016

Chemo-Brain and Apparently Cyto-Brain in some Autism and even ADHD




Some readers of this blog have developed quite advanced personalized medication for their child with autism.  As you might expect, given the wide variety of autism sub-types, the medical therapies found to be effective vary widely.  It is interesting that many people see fluctuations in cognitive function and some develop strategies to counter them.

I came across another form of variable cognitive dysfunction, “Chemo-brain”, that occurs in people after cancer treatment.  Chemo brain can also be called chemo fog, chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment or just cognitive dysfunction.

It is interesting for readers of this blog because chemo brain is thought to be caused by changes in inflammatory cytokine expression within the brain, over a few years the symptoms usually fade away.  Some people’s autism just fades away, although tell-tale signs usually remain.

Cytokine expression appears to be both a cause of autism and a consequence of it.  One clever researcher in this field is Paul Ashwood, who recently published another paper, this time regarding their causal effect.


Autism with intellectual disability is associated with increased levels of maternal cytokines and chemokines during gestation



A confusing term that also appears is dyscognition; this is not a real word, but is either used to describe another condition sometimes called “fibro fog”, or it just means cognitive dysfunction.   Fibro fog is the name given to cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia, which occurs alongside fatigue and muscle pain.

Many doctors believe that fibromyalgia is often a made up condition.  I think, in some people, fibromyalgia is one step short, in a multiple hit process, of a progression to autism.  If you look at biological links between neuropathic pain and autism, like purinergic signaling (P2Y2 etc) there are connections between pain and autism.  As we know, people with autism can be both hypo and hyper sensitive to pain.  

This post is really just look to see are there any clever thoughts regarding chemo brain that can be translated to treating cognitive dysfunction in autism, be it the baseline autism or those flare ups.



Further, the cytokine hypothesis suggests a range of potential therapeutic targets. One potential approach would be to prevent the acute change in cytokines related to cancer treatment from occurring. Agents that inhibit cytokine activity, such as monoclonal antibodies and small molecular inhibitors, may confer benefit either alone or as an adjuvant treatment to chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline in cancer patients. TNF-α antagonists (etanercept and infliximab) have been shown to inhibit fatigue and improve depressive symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. P2×7 antagonist that inhibits IL-1b release has been shown to reduce depressive-like profiles and neuropathic pain in animal models. Specific p38 MAPK and NF-κB inhibitors that block inflammatory signaling transduction have generated great interest from their use in the treatment of cytokine-induced depressive behavior and antidepressant-like effects in animal models. Anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-10, IL-4 and minocycline may also have the potential therapeutic effects on chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline by inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine release through modulation of the caspase pathways. Even acupuncture may have therapeutic potential considering its effects on suppressing proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10. Acupuncture has been often used to alleviate the side effects of cancer treatment, including pain, nausea, hot flashes, fatigue, anxiety/mood disorders, and sleep disturbance. A series of interesting studies suggest a therapeutic role in dyscognition, for example, acupuncture improved cognitive function of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and various dementia, with clinical improvement correlating with alterations in functional connectivity and resting state activity of particular brain regions. Such approaches to the prevention of cancer-therapy dyscognition are reasonable, currently feasible, and scientifically testable.
BDNF and its receptor tropomyosin-related kinase receptor type B (TRKB) play a potential role in the pathogenesis of neurological and neuropsychological disorders . Epigenetic or pharmacological enhancement of BDNF–trkB signaling restores was reported to reverse the aging-related cognitive decline. BDNF polymorphisms are associated with impaired memory and cognition, along with reduced hippocampal activation as measured by fMRI. Age-related BDNF declines have been reported to be associated with declines in hippocampal volume and spatial memory in the elderly. Low BDNF is associated with cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. Significantly decreased blood serum BDNF levels have been detected in patients with cognitive impairment due to obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome. Given its potent effects on neuronal function and survival in various cell systems in the CNS, BDNF has been evaluated in patients with various neurology cal disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), peripheral neuropathy, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. However, delivery of BDNF remains a substantial challenge for clinical trials because it is a moderately sized and charged protein and only minimal amount of BDNF administrated peripherally crosses the BBB to reach neurons in the brain. Acupuncture has been reported to increase neurotrophic factors  and the levels of nerve growth factors in the brain by altering the permeability of the BBB. In rats, electric acupuncture enhanced motor recovery after cerebral infarction that was associated with increased expression of BDNF in the brain.
With cytokines acting as a trigger to upstream changes, anti-cytokine therapies may have little therapeutic effect once upstream mechanisms responsible for dyscognition have been established, given that the most clinically available anti-cytokine antibodies are not readily to penetrate the blood–brain barrier. Antibody concentrations in the brain are typically about a thousand times lower than in the blood. Therefore, to better prevent development of cognitive dysfunction, anti-cytokine therapies would be best used by blocking cytokine production or inhibiting cytokine release in the peripheral prior to triggering the consequent events in the CNS. However, epigenetic changes are dynamic and the pathological changes caused by epigenetic modifications can be reversed prior to the development of permanent symptoms by targeting enzymes or other factors that control or maintain the epigenetic status. Treatments that seek to reverse casual epigenetic modifications have the potential to be effective. Such treatments are still in their infancy. S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) is an important methyl group donor required for proper DNA methylation and has been used to treat memory and cognitive symptoms in depressed patients. Betaine, another methyl donor, has been shown to improve memory in mice memory impairment induced by lipopolysaccharide. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) inhibitors can also alter epigenetic modifications, which have been studied in memory and cognition . In a mouse model, administration of crebinostat, a HDAC inhibitor, improves memory. Sirtuins, a class III HDAC inhibitors found in red grape skin and wine resveratrol have been found to improve cognitive function in mice and are currently under phase II clinical trial (ADAS-Cog, ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT01504854, 2013).
In summary, cognitive dysfunction remains a common and debilitating effect of cancer treatment, with no effective prevention and treatment, although a variety of pharmacologic and non-pharmacological strategies have been investigated. We present a speculative but testable hypothesis of how cognitive dysfunction may occur following chemotherapy. Unlike other dyscognitive illnesses, it is both scientifically and ethically feasible to study the onset of “chemobrain” by administering a major physiologic stress and observing the biological ramifications. It should be possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism underlying cognitive dysfunction in cancer patients. Such knowledge is critical to identifying methods to both prevent and treat cancer-treatment dyscognition and potentially other dyscognitive disorders.



ADHD

Rather by coincidence a very recent study on ADHD was just published and highlighted on the Questioning Answers Blog, it shows something rather similar.  In people with ADHD and allergy, when you treat their allergy with antihistamines and/or steroids their ADHD symptoms improve.  In other words the inflammatory signaling from allergies exacerbates their underlying neurological problems.


Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related symptoms improved with allergic rhinitis treatment in children.



BACKGROUND:
Increased prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with allergic rhinitis (AR) has been reported. Our previous study showed that children with untreated AR had higher ADHD scores than did the controls.

OBJECTIVE:

This prospective follow-up study aimed to investigate whether elevated ADHD scores in children with AR could be decreased by AR treatment.

METHODS:

Sixty-eight children with AR (age range, 6-14 years) and who were drug naive were enrolled and evaluated by AR symptom score, ADHD symptom scores, and computerized continuous performance test, before and after AR therapy, which included nonpharmacologic intervention, oral antihistamines, and topical steroids. Thirty-one age-matched controls and 13 children with pure ADHD were also enrolled for comparison. The relationship between the AR and ADHD score change was analyzed by a partial correlation test, and univariate and multivariate linear regression models were applied to investigate possible predictors for the improvement of ADHD scores by AR treatment.

RESULTS:

AR symptom scores in children with AR decreased significantly after treatment (p < 0.001), and their ADHD scores also decreased significantly (p < 0.001). An improved AR symptom score was positively correlated with improved detectability (rp = 0.617, p = 0.001) and commission error (rp = 0.511, p = 0.011). Significant predictors for the improvement of ADHD scores included age, AR drugs, AR subtypes, and multiple atopic diseases (ps < 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

Higher ADHD scores in children with AR compared with healthy controls decreased significantly with AR treatment. For children with AR and borderline ADHD symptoms, who do not meet full ADHD diagnostic criteria, we recommend initially treating their AR and monitoring improvement of ADHD symptoms.


I have documented in this blog how allergy can make autism worse and numerous people have left comments that allergic rhinitis treatment in children reduces their autism.

This would seem to me to suggest that controlling inflammatory cytokines may ameliorate the issues faced by people with conditions ranging from ADHD and autism to chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and quite possibly some types of dementia and MCI (mild cognitive impairment) not to mention TBI (traumatic brain injury).

There are numerous possible ways to influence pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines, very likely different people will respond to different therapies.  What helps people with chemobrain may well be worth investigating for people with what I am calling cytobrain.

In the world of autism, as the door appears to be closing on the development of TSO parasites as immuno-modulators another one is opening for probiotic bacteria.  This was discussed in the comments section of the last post.  

Immunomodulatory probiotics for chemobrain perhaps?  Probably worth a try.








Wednesday 10 February 2016

More Failed Autism Trials and (28 million) thoughts as to why



Two autism therapies mentioned in this blog have recently failed in their clinical trials.

The selective mGluR5 antagonist mavoglurant failed in two trials funded by Roche and Coronado Biosciences threw in the towel with its Trichuris suis ova (“TSO”) program.  TSO are parasites that are introduced to the gut to modify the immune response, they are thought to help conditions like ulcerative colitis and some autism.



"Coronado Biosciences (NASDAQ: CNDO) has decided to no longer pursue the development of its Trichuris suis ova (“TSO”) program. The Company is terminating all on-going TSO trials, including the Company’s Phase 2A clinical trial of TSO in pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder. A preliminary analysis of data from this trial failed to demonstrate any signal of activity."


The original user of TSO in autism documented his case here:-

http://autismtso.com/

It has been a long time since the father updated his site. Does he still give TSO to his son?

This adds to a growing list of very expensive failures.

The good news is that people are beginning to wonder why these, and all the previous trials, "failed".  Perhaps some were not failures, rather narrowly selective successes.  A new initiative is underway called Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials to try to develop more objective measures both for diagnosing autism in young children and for tracking changes.


"The Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) is a multicenter research study based at Yale that spans Duke University, Boston Children’s Hospital, the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of California, Los Angeles. The aim of the consortium is to develop reliable and objective measurements of social function and communication in people with autism."
  

NIH provides $28M to study autism biomarkers via its Biomarkers Consortium


That is a lot of money.



I wish them well.

I do not think they fully realize the task facing them.  There are hundreds of “autisms” and many are dynamic, so changing over time.  Even if you find a responder to a therapy, if you tested the same person six months later he might not respond positively. 

It is highly unlikely that any single therapy can target all the symptoms in any case of autism.  So multiple therapies will be needed.

For many people, autism is a moving target, any kind of allergy, tooth issue or other inflammation could cause a false negative.



Single Gene vs Idiopathic Autism

It should be much easier to develop treatment for single gene autisms, like Fragile X, than for the idiopathic (“we have no clue what causes it”) autisms.  The above trials by Roche were in Fragile-X, where at least you know that all the subjects in the trial started with the same single gene dysfunction. 

But do they have other genetic/epigenetic dysfunctions?  Do they all have the same downstream dysfunctions? 

Fragile X is caused by a lack of the FRMP protein, perhaps the only time to correct this is very early in life.  Thereafter you have the downstream consequences, some of which overlap with ideopathic autism, some of these may well be treatable. 


 Autism Case Reports and Anecdotal Evidence

A good source of information remains published case reports.  These are documented pieces of anecdotal evidence showing what appeared to help a particular person. Here is one highlighted recently by Agnieszka, a reader of this blog.

Beta-Lactam Antibiotics as A Possible Novel Therapy for Managing Epilepsy and Autism, A Case Report and Review of Literature



The index patient is a 9 year old boy with autism spectrum disorder diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). He suffered from generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy from age 4. He had taken multiple different medications such as phenobarbital, sodium valporate, and carbamazepine with sufficient dosages and durations without favorable control of his epilepsy. According to his parents’ reports, the patient took cefixime 200mg/day to control diarrhea about 2 years ago. The seizure episodes were dramatically decreased 3 days after starting the medication while the there was no change in his anti-epileptic medication regime. The seizure episodes were controlled for about 5 months, after which the number of seizure episodes again increased. His highly educated parents administered cefixime 200mg/day to control seizure again. They reported that seizure attacks were controlled markedly after taking cefixime for three days. The patient was not febrile while the medication trials were administered. Both parents reported that they repeated this trial for several times to control the seizure episodes in the recent years. The epilepsy was controlled in all of the trials after taking cefixime for 3 to 5 days. Then, they discontinued cefixime after 7 days. They reported that there was a marked decreased in the number of seizure attacks as well as aggressive behaviors.


You cannot read too much into any one case report, other than to note how many totally unrelated interventions seem to benefit unique cases of autism.  This only goes to show that totally unrelated dysfunctions can manifest themselves as “autism”.

If you grouped all the anecdotal evidence together you would have some interesting reading.  If someone actually followed up on these anecdotes and did some additional investigation on each case we might learn very much more.



Previous Autism Clinical Trials

When I read the original clinical trials of NAC and Bumetanide in Autism, the results seemed good enough to me to warrant my own trial.

I do not see why there has not yet been a follow up of Stanford’s trial of NAC.  There was a patent (below) and then nothing.  It clearly works in many people, but most clinicians will not prescribe it until it is “evidence based”.  Those granted the patent should then go and collect some more evidence.



Bumetanide has also been patented for autism and the next stage of trials will follow, we are informed.

I will be interested to see whether the phase 3 trials are solid enough to convince mainstream clinicians to actually prescribe it.  "A diuretic for autism, come on, be serious!"

Nothing would surprise me.


Funding for Future Trials

It would be a bold person who invested any profit-seeking capital in autism trials, but they keep coming forward.  Here is another new one, OV101 from start-up Ovid.

The only reliable source is public money and philanthropy.

It looks like the US NIH (National Institutes of Health) still has deep pockets and Jim Simons keeps backing his Foundation.



mGLuR5

Roche may not have succeeded with their mGLuR5 drug, mavoglurant, but mGluR5 remains a target for treating schizophrenia and autism



Receptors in brain linked to schizophrenia, autism



Disruption of mGluR5 in parvalbumin-positive interneurons induces corefeatures of neurodevelopmental disorders





What would a successful Autism Trial look like?

Given the heterogeneous nature of autism, even a really effective drug might not look so good in the data.  Very specific drugs that counter the disorders where there can be both hypo and hyper, will come out with some good responders, some with no effect and a sizable number with a bad effect; so on average not so good.

Drugs that affect the most common down stream effect, oxidative stress, would come out best.  So I the results Hardan obtained in his Stanford trial of NAC will be as good as it gets.  Those results were enough for me, but not so impressive to many.

Now reconsider a long forgotten trial of an anti-depressant drug, developed from a first generation antihistamine.

This trial has a rather eclectic mix of 26 subjects, but 36% were responders, either much improved or very much improved in a wide variety of symptoms including aggression, self-injury, irritability, hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. However the authors judge the trial drug as: 


  "Mirtazapine was well tolerated but showed only modest effectiveness for treating the associated symptoms of autistic disorder" 


What were they hoping for ?






Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to conduct a naturalistic, open-label examination of the efficacy and tolerability of mirtazapine (a medication with both serotonergic and noradrenergic properties) in the treatment of associated symptoms of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs).
METHODS:

Twenty-six subjects (5 females, 21 males; ages 3.8 to 23.5 years; mean age 10.1 +/- 4.8 years) with PDDs (20 with autistic disorder, 1 with Asperger's disorder, 1 with Rett's disorder, and 4 with PDDs not otherwise specified were treated with open-label mirtazapine (dose range, 7.5-45 mg daily; mean 30.3 +/- 12.6 mg daily). Twenty had comorbid mental retardation, and 17 were taking concomitant psychotropic medications. At endpoint, subjects' primary caregivers were interviewed using the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist, and a side-effect checklist.

RESULTS:

Twenty-five of 26 subjects completed at least 4 weeks of treatment (mean 150 +/- 103 days). Nine of 26 subjects (34.6%) were judged responders ("much improved" or "very much improved" on the CGI) based on improvement in a variety of symptoms including aggression, self-injury, irritability, hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Mirtazapine did not improve core symptoms of social or communication impairment. Adverse effects were minimal and included increased appetite, irritability, and transient sedation.

CONCLUSIONS:


Mirtazapine was well tolerated but showed only modest effectiveness for treating the associated symptoms of autistic disorder and other PDDs.



I think that was a successful trial that should have been followed up, rather then being forgotten.








Thursday 23 October 2014

GERD/Reflux, Autism, Head Banging and mGlu5






This brief post addresses one further issue as to why people with autism can often suffer from various nasty gastrointestinal (GI) problems. 

First a recap.


Mast Cell Activation

We have already seen that some people’s GI problems are caused by mast cell activation/degranulation.  These cells are activated by allergens (certain foods in this case) and then they release histamine and other pro-inflammatory agents like IL-6.  Degranulation of mast cells can itself cause pain, but the main problem is the resulting damage/inflammation caused by the IL-6 and histamine.

The effective therapy is a mast cell stabilizer.  These include Verapamil (better known as a calcium channel blocker), Cromolyn Sodium, Ketotifen, Azelastine and to a lesser extent most anti-histamines like Claritin, Zyrtec etc.  Quercetin, the flavonoid, also has an effect.


Pancreatic Dysfunction

We also saw that L-type calcium channel (Cav1.2) dysfunction in the pancreas may disrupt the production of certain digestive enzymes.  The lack of these enzymes will disrupt the digestive process and likely affects other processes elsewhere in the body.  Verapamil blocks the Cav1.2 channel.


Ulcerative Colitis

We saw that inflammation and colitis, as diagnosed by an endoscopy, is another comorbidity of autism; this may be in part caused by the mast cell degranulation, but it does fit with the broader hypothesis of the over-activated immune system.  We saw how the potassium ion channel Kv1.3 was the mechanism behind some useful immuno-suppressive therapies, including those TSO parasites.  For those who are skeptical, here is another recent study, I just found:-

  

Kv1.3 should then be a target to treat ulcerative colitis and, I believe, autism itself. Some Kv1.3 blockers exist today; one is Verapamil, another is Curcumin, for those who prefer supplements to drugs.




Before I forget to write this down somewhere, it appears that Kv1.3 can also be modulated by PKA and PKC, which decrease its activity. 


We have already come across protein kinase B (PKB) and there will be a post soon of PKA, PKB and PKC.  This all links back to oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and even those dendritic spines.

  
Reflux

Today’s post is about reflux, sometimes known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).  Reflux is when the acid from the stomach rises through the esophagus/oesophagus to the mouth.

Many adults suffer from reflux from time to time and there are many OTC and prescription drug treatments. It can cause pain and discomfort, and would be particularly troubling if you could neither verbalize, nor understand your symptoms.


Why this post?

You may wonder why I have jumped from broccoli (the previous post) to reflux.  There is a reason.

I was recently listening to a conversation between doctors about a head-banging child and then came “it’s not autism; he’s got reflux, that is why he was banging his head.”

That sounded very odd to me.

It turns out many people with autism suffer from reflux, so you could say it is a comorbidity.  But why might that be?


mGlu5 receptors and disease

In an earlier, rather complicated, post I introduced the glutamate receptor, mGlu5.  This receptor is at the centre of research into Fragile X at MIT.  Fragile X is the most common single gene cause of autism.  It has been shown that mGlu5 dysfunction appears in many types of autism and indeed schizophrenia (adult-onset autism).
   
I then chanced upon a recent paper on mGLu5 and came across this section:-

Through contributions to synaptic plasticity, mGlu5 receptors have been implicated in neuronal processes such as learning and memory as well as disorders including Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), tuberous sclerosis, autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety, neuropathic pain, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias, and gastroesophageal reflux disease


That was quite a surprise, but yet another good lesson of why the comorbidities should all be carefully researched.
 
The full paper, for anyone with time on their hands is:- 



Conclusion

If you have autism, you may have an mGlu5 dysfunction.  This will become treatable once the needed PAMs (Positive Allosteric Modulators) and NAMs (Negative Allosteric Modulators) have been brought to market.  A great deal of research is ongoing.

In the meantime, mGlu5 dysfunction is quite possible elsewhere in the body.  mGlu5 dysfunction is associated with some very rare disorders, but the common ones are diabetes and reflux.

The head-banging boy very possibly had both autism and reflux; he did develop diabetes.

For more on autism and diabetes, a short, thought provoking, but technical, paper:-


Interestingly, we saw earlier that Verapamil seems to offer protection against type 1 and 2 diabetes. This time it is its calcium channel blocking role that is the mechanism.



No big surprise that Verapamil is an ingredient of the autism Polypill.




Verapamil drug may reverse diabetes-related death of pancreatic beta cells


Tuesday 12 August 2014

Immunomodulatory Therapy in Autism - Potassium Channel Kv1.3, Parasitic Worms, and their ShK–related peptides



Regular readers of this post will know that I believe that Immunomodulatory therapy has great promise for treating various subtypes of autism.  In effect, I want to bring the over-activated immune system back under control.  Two methods that appeal are:-

·        The steroid, Prednisone, because it is cheap and though it has side effects, they are very well understood. It also has been shown to be effective in autism and related conditions like PANDAS and Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS)

·        Parasitic worms appeal because they are known to have beneficial effect in many auto-immune conditions ranging from arthritis to autism, but nobody really understood why.  Until now.

This post is about the worms and recent research which has established that it is likely that they work by blocking the potassium channel Kv1.3.

You will have noted that this blog keeps going on about ion channel dysfunctions and autism.  We already know that Cl-, Ca2+ , K+ and Na2+ are all implicated.

When researching calcium channel blockers for autism, one reason I picked Verapamil was that it is also a potassium channel blocker.  My earlier experiments have shown that hypokalemic sensory overload exists in autism, I showed that oral potassium could treat sensory overload.

Hypokalemic Autistic Sensory Overload

 
This blog is (slowly) working its way through the ion channel dysfunctions known to exist in autism.

Well, it appears that Verapamil also blocks Kv1.3.

Block of the lymphocyte K+ channel mKv1.3 by the phenylalkylamine verapamil



Research Down Under

Researchers in Australia have identified the chemicals released by parasitic worms that have the effect of subduing the immune system.  They identified a large family of Stichodactyla helianthus toxin (ShK)–related peptides in parasitic worms, they showed that these peptides acted to inhibit Kv1.3 channels in human T cells.


Abstract

The voltage-gated potassium (Kv) 1.3 channel is widely regarded as a therapeutic target for immunomodulation in autoimmune diseases. ShK-186, a selective inhibitor of Kv1.3 channels, ameliorates autoimmune diseases in rodent models, and human phase 1 trials of this agent in healthy volunteers have been completed. In this study, we identified and characterized a large family of Stichodactyla helianthus toxin (ShK)–related peptides in parasitic worms. Based on phylogenetic analysis, 2 worm peptides were selected for study: AcK1, a 51-residue peptide expressed in the anterior secretory glands of the dog-infecting hookworm Ancylostoma caninum and the human-infecting hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum, and BmK1, the C-terminal domain of a metalloprotease from the filarial worm Brugia malayi. These peptides in solution adopt helical structures closely resembling that of ShK. At doses in the nanomolar–micromolar range, they block native Kv1.3 in human T cells and cloned Kv1.3 stably expressed in L929 mouse fibroblasts. They preferentially suppress the proliferation of rat CCR7 effector memory T cells without affecting naive and central memory subsets and inhibit the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response caused by skin-homing effector memory T cells in rats. Further, they suppress IFNγ production by human T lymphocytes. ShK-related peptides in parasitic worms may contribute to the potential beneficial effects of probiotic parasitic worm therapy in human autoimmune diseases

A less heavy summary is here:-

'Wormpill' could ease autoimmune disease symptoms

  
The researchers noted that Kv1.3 is widely regarded as a therapeutic target for immunomodulation in autoimmune diseases.

So it seems that they have identified the mechanism of action of the worms.

Earlier posts have mentioned intentionally swallowing TSO parasites (Helminthic therapy) for autism and the trials now ongoing by Coronado Biosciences.   Here is part of one post:-

I think that TSO is very interesting.  It is now being developed by Coronado Biosciences as a therapy for several inflammatory conditions including:-

·        Crohn’s disease
·        Ulcerative Colitis
·        Autism

Here is a link to all the clinical trials they are running.

The idea behind TSO is that the parasites have evolved a method of ensuring their survival in their host, by subduing the immune system, so that they are not killed/ejected.  By down-regulating the immune system, they become a therapy for diseases featuring an over active immune system.

This all started a few years ago when one autism Dad figured all this out and tried it on his own son.  Then began the long process of clinical trials, which then ended up with Coronado Biosciences.  The Dad’s website is here.

The Australians have the idea of making their (ShK)–related peptides into a drug therapy.  So no need to swallow those worms after all.


Verapamil or Stichodactyla helianthus toxin (ShK)–related Peptides

Just as the Australians may have trumped Coronado Bioscience with their better-than-a-worm peptide pill, has Verapamil the ability to trump the Ozzies?

We know that Verapamil is neutralizing many allergic reactions affecting autism all over the body.  This appears to be a combination of mast cell stabilization and a possible effect on pancreatic function that reduces GI problems.  But is Verapamil’s inhibitory effect on Kv1.3 also providing a broader immunomodulatory effect as well?  It does indeed look possible.

We would need somebody using TSO worms for autism, to see if Verapamil was effective for them too.  Any volunteers?

Unlike the TSO worms and the ShK peptides, Verapamil is cheap and sitting on the shelf in your local pharmacy.