Leprosy is caused by bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium that live inside cells. If they make you sick, they also have an unexpected power on liver cells.
Leprosy is an infectious disease that seems to come from another time, yet it is still a major public health problem in Africa, Asia and South America. These three regions concentrate most of the 200,000 cases recorded each year. If leprosy has practically disappeared from Metropolitan France, it is still present in several overseas territories.
The bacteria responsible for leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae, causes impressive damage to the skin, mucous membranes and nerves, which can disfigure patients and leave them scars for life. But this bacterium also has the amazing property of promoting liver growth according to a recent study conducted at the University of Edinburgh.
Leprosy bacteria boost liver size
Scientists have infected 45 armadillos, the natural reservoir of Mycobacterium leprae, and analyzed the size of their liver. Surprisingly, the organ size was larger in infected animals than in uninfected ones, while maintaining a normal anatomical structure with the blood vessels and ducts that connect the liver to the gallbladder in the correct place.
« If we can identify how the bacterium causes the liver to grow and remain functional without causing side effects in living animals, we may be able to translate this knowledge to develop safer therapies to rejuvenate aging livers and regenerate tissue. damaged », explique Anura Rambukkanaa cell biologist at the University of Edinburgh.
Mycobacterium leprae is an intra-cellular bacterium which thus escapes antibodies. In the cell, it diverts part of its metabolism for its own needs. Scientists speculate that in the case of hepatocytes, the bacteria might put them in a comparable metabolic state to that of stem cells allowing the liver to grow. An unexpected avenue of research that scientists will not fail to dig.
