| Key gene to patient survival discovered
 IRISH
researchers working in Oxford and Dublin have discovered a key gene that
helps determine why some patients survive and others die of diseases such
as malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia and blood poisoning.
The finding should greatly improve treatments for at-risk patients and
also lead to new drugs against these and other infectious diseases.
“The series of discoveries was made while trying to answer the question
why some patients die of malaria and others don’t,” explained
the head of Trinity College Dublin’s school of biotechnology and
immunology and professor of molecular immunology Prof Luke O’Neill.
Prof O’Neill and the University of Oxford’s Irish-born professor
of human genetics Prof Adrian Hill are joint lead authors of a paper explaining
the research published in the journal Nature Genetics.
A major implication of their findings is that a single gene which produces
a protein known as Mal may be the key determinant whether a patient survives
a dangerous infectious disease. The researchers hope to show this may
be true for many infectious agents including the dangerous hospital bug
MRSA.
The two have already proven that Mal plays this role in malaria, TB, bacterial
pneumonia and blood poisoning said Prof O’Neill.
He said: “The fact that Mal is affected in all of these is significant.
It could be implicated in most infectious diseases.”
The researchers have also shown that the effect happens in diverse populations
given their study of more than 6,000 patients from Gambia, Vietnam, Turkey
and Britain.
Malaria is a major killer worldwide and about a third of the world’s
population lives in areas where it is endemic Prof O’Neill stated.
Climate change is also pushing malaria into new areas, including the southern
United States.
Another 1million people die of blood poisoning in Europe and the US.
Prof O’Neill said: “About 5million children a year are dying
of malaria and it looks like Mal is a key factor of why they are dying.
“The discovery of Mal as a key determinant of death will help in
discovering ways to allow more patients to survive.”
We all have two copies of the gene that produces Mal which is a very important
switch that turns on our immune systems during infection.
Both copies are underactive in about 2 to 3 per cent of the British population
and these patients are most likely to succumb to these diseases.
Another 26 per cent of people have what is known as the Goldilocks phenomenon
where the two copies of Mal work “just right” Prof O’Neill
said. But the majority more than 70 per cent have copies that make Mal
overactive.
Having the overactive Mal doubles the risk of succumbing to these diseases
with some populations facing a four-fold higher risk of getting malaria.
“It turns out you are best off having the form that works just right,”
Prof O’Neill said.
The findings have huge implications for the way these diseases are treated.
The great hope is that drugs could be developed either to dampen down
or promote Mal activity to reach the “just right” level Prof
O’Neill added.
Equally patients more at risk could be given higher doses of antibiotics
early on or stronger antibiotics.
It may allow clinics to predict a person’s risk before they travel
to areas where malaria is endemic.
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