Trigger Warning: The video below is not for general consumption. Having said that you may want to watch it. The first part depicts the reactions of a handful of celebrities watching a series of shots depicting seven different related tropical diseases, and I must say, having seen all of these diseases in person (and having treated some of them, and had mild versions of a couple myself) that these particular videos show the worst side of it. But still, a very large number of people (according to the source of the video, about a billion) have some form of these diseases, mainly in Africa but also in Central and South America and Asia. The celebrities are: Emily Blunt (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “Devil Wears Prada”); Eddie Redmayne (“Les Miserables,” “My Week with Marilyn”); Tom Felton (“Harry Potter” series); Yvonne Chaka Chaka (South African pop star); Tom Hollander (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Pride and Prejudice”); and Priyanka Chopra (leading Bollywood actress and international recording artist).

The last part of the video is the same celebs giving a pitch for you to pitch in and donate some money and spread some awareness.

The project that produced this video is called End7, a reference to ending all seven diseases. What they say is mostly true: You can treat these diseases very inexpensively. At present, the pharmaceuticals are well known and inexpensive. However, people with advanced stages of some of these parasitic infections can’t be treated easily if at all because the treatment may involve causing effects that result in very severe immune system responses. The idea is to treat children, more or less prophylactically, so they don’t develop the advanced versions.

• This is the original blog post showing the video.
• This is the End7 site where you can join up.
• This is the End7 Facebook page (go “like” it)
• End7’s Twitter page is here.
• Here is the Facebook page for Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
• This is the video:

The disease are:

<ul>

<li>Roundworm</li>

<li>Hookworm</li>

<li>Whipworm</li>

<li>Trachoma</li>

<li>River Blindness</li>

<li>Snail Fever</li></ul>

Treatment of the disease involves killing the bacterium, which in turn kills the host nematode, using various anti-biotics. However, as we have learned over recent decades, widespread use of antibiotics can be less than ideal because this can cause selection for resistant strains so that treatment can become generally ineffective across an affected population. Ideally, there would be a reliable test for river blindness infection that would allow more targeted use of treatments.

A research team at Scripps has just published a paper in PNAS that may lead to such a treatment. The team examined urine samples from people who are known to be infected with the nematode Onchocerca volvulus and its attending Wolbachia pipientis bacterium with those who were not thought to be so infected. A massive laboratory based hunt for differences in the contents of the urine was carried out, and one molecule was identified as unique to the infected humans. This was N-acetyltyramine-O,?-glucuronide, which started out as a neurotransmitter found in the nematodes while they are young, which is then converted to N-acetyltyramine-O,?-glucuronide in the human body and eventually secreted in the urine.

The nematode has a somewhat complex lifecycle in which the very young worms infect various tissues and reproduce there, causing the damage to the tissue via the bacterium’s release. This neurotransmitter seems to be unique, or nearly unique, to these young worms. This is important because the nematode is probably widespread in humans in the endemic areas, but as relatively dormant adults found here and there throughout the body. It is only the young reproducing worms that cause the river blindness. Therefore, N-acetyltyramine-O,?-glucuronide specifically identifies individuals at risk of tissue damage to the eyes.

The test is not yet ready for prime time. There needs to be a field test that can be administered easily in conditions where there are only minimal or no clinical facilities. The test materials have to be reasonably inexpensive and not require special handling such as refrigeration. Ideally, this would consist of a urine test strip as have been developed in the past to test for blood sugar levels or pregnancy.

Another important outcome of this finding is the method itself, which the researchers have dubbed “Metabolome-mining.” (The term “metabolome” refers to the full set of metabolites to be found in a particular organism or tissue, similar to the term “genome” for the full set of genes.)

More information will be available at the Scripps Research Institution web site.

Globisch, D, Moreno, A, Hixon, M, Nunes, A., Denery, J., Specth, S., HYoerauf, A, & Jand, K (2013). Onchocerca volvulus-Neurotransmitter Tyramine is a Biomarker for River Blindness PNAS

Photo from Flickr User General Wesc