Can leprosy help repair our bodies?

Ancient disease regenerates - 25th September 2023

Leprosy might provide the elusive key to unlocking organ regeneration. In a groundbreaking new liver study, the ancient disease appeared to be responsible for almost doubling the size of the organ, with no indications of harmful side effects.

Research undertaken at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine established that when bacteria of the ancient skin disease colonise the livers of armadillos, they force the generation of new cells. This enlarges the organ significantly, creating additional space for the bacteria to grow in number. DNA tests of the new liver cells concluded that the tissue was just as healthy as the original liver, as well as being genetically younger.

The stigma surrounding leprosy stretches back millenia, with sufferers commonly ostracised by society and frequently condemned to a life isolated from their families prior to the development of an antibiotic cure. Nowadays, irrespective of the disease’s treatable status and the difficulty of transmission, misinformation and prejudice remain. Approximately 250,000 people still become infected with leprosy each year who, if left untreated, face being scarred for life and in the worst cases losing fingers and toes.

The mystery of just how mycrobacterium leprae transforms cells intrigues researchers since other attempts at organ regeneration have encountered significant issues. Past studies, which reset adult cells into stem cells to engineer growth, saw the likelihood of cells becoming cancerous rise. By contrast in the recent study, the armadillo livers, including their bile ducts and blood vessels, exhibited all the signs of being healthy. "It’s mind-blowing," commented Professor Aruna Rambukkana, at the Edinburgh centre. "How do they do that? There’s no cell therapy that can do that."

Regardless of this success, there are significant questions over the transferability of this research to humans. Professor Darious Widera of the University of Reading shared concerns that "substantial refinement of the methods would be required prior to clinical translation".

For Professor Rambukkana, the future of biological regeneration appears bright. "The dream is to use that same bacterial strategy," he counselled, "to use the ingenuity of bacteria to generate new medicines for regeneration and repair."