If you have been to Nigeria or live in Nigeria and traveled within the early 2000s, you would find people with leprosy staying around the Benin-Ore Expressway or some other expressway that leads to the South Eastern part of the country. These are no longer there or maybe I haven't come across them in those parts but when you hear the word Leprosy, what comes to mind might be Hansen's disease or the stigma associated to the disease which is normal but I doubt you would have anything good to say about it but maybe before the end of this post of mind, you would change your mind.
Hansen's disease or Leprosy is a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and when infect humans, they infect the Schwann cells that protects the peripheral nervous system providing protection in the form of insulation such as myelin sheath for the axons of nerve cells. When there is a damage to the nerve cells as a result of infection or trauma, the schwann cells receive signals to become immature again in a process known as De-differentiation and this process helps the axons to recover from the infection or injury.
With Mycobacterium leprae they cause they cells to de-differentiate and then cause them to look like stem cells, so this leads to to the damage of the nerve cells which can lead to loss of feeling, muscle weakness, loss of sensation, and blindness. So we can attest that this bacterial disease is a terrible one especially when people didn't know it could be treated leading of disfiguring of certain body part.
Funny enough, this bacteria does a complete opposite in the body of Nine-Banded Armadillo where it promotes regeneration in the liver tissue of the animal. So we are not the only species that this bacterium infects. It is funny that it enjoys variety but then its effect on the we and Nine-Banded Armadillo are different.
In 2022, a Study in the University of Edinburgh showed that infected Nine-Banded Armadillos grew bigger livers compared to the non-infected Nine-Banded Armadillo. The livers are functional and healthy, and the bacteria does this by stealing the host regenerative processes and in Nine-Banded Armadillo the M.leprae causes the increase in the genes that codes for protein which is associated with the growth, the healing, and increased metabolic activity of its liver.
The liver cells of Nine-Banded Armadillo is similar to our liver cells genes during fetal development and while growing in adult. So does it look like we have a chance in doing the same thing for our livers, we have been able to regenerate stem cells in mice in the lab but the cells become cancerous but with Nine-Banded Armadillo that are infected, they do not have cancer. Doing this to the Nine-Banded Armadillo's liver gives the bacteria good nutrient-packed habitat and they keep how the liver from being damaged.
With this, scientists are looking to learn how the Nine-Banded Armadillo regenerates their liver and be able to use this for the regeneration of liver cells in humans which will help deal with liver disease. It is no news that liver disease cause millions of death yearly around the world. Why do we need this when the liver can regenerate itself?
Actually, the liver can regenerate itself but it can be difficult or impossible in cases of fatty liver, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver failure. This study might help us learn how to regenerate liver or create a new one when the need of transplant arises. So we can say that there is a sprinkle of good in bad.
Read More
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4323685/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301008209001877
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/leprosy
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544316/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8177826/
- https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00379-2
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9051340/
- https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/64038
- https://www.science.org/content/article/leprosy-spurs
