Can leprosy help repair our bodies?

Leprosy could renew vital organ - 25th September 2023

Diseases like leprosy could play a key role in future medicine. Experiments exploring its effect on the liver saw the vital organ almost double in size without any negative consequences.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh observed that this was due to the bacteria which cause the ancient skin disease. As they take hold in the animal’s liver, they trick it into growing so that they can multiply further. DNA testing found that the newly-grown organ tissue was not only healthy but also genetically younger.

Leprosy had been feared throughout history until antibiotics provided a cure. Despite it being difficult to catch the disease, sufferers were regularly isolated from society. Even now, with a lack of education about leprosy, its bad reputation remains. Today, around a quarter of a million people contract the disease annually. Without suitable medicine, these patients would risk losing fingers and toes and be left with scars on their skin.

How leprosy bacteria alter cells fascinates scientists. Previous medical experiments have succeeded in regrowing organs using stem cells which were created by resetting a patient’s adult cells. However, that approach also increased the chances of cells becoming cancerous. Not so in this study, using the livers of armadillos, where the livers, remained healthy, with regular bile ducts and blood vessels.

The results left Professor Aruna Rambukkana at Edinburgh’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine asking "How do they do that?...There’s no cell therapy that can do that."

Nevertheless, the results of human testing could differ greatly from the current study. Furthermore, leprosy can significantly impact a person’s long-term health. The University of Reading’s Professor Darious Widera cautions that developing any treatments would require "substantial refinement of the methods".

Still, Professor Rambukkana’s optimistic about the discovery and his vision to use bacteria "to generate medicines for regeneration and repair."