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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The "zukunft.niedersachsen" funding programme is contributing two million euros to the project.
The intestine needs bile to digest fats from food. Bile is produced in the liver and travels from there to the intestine via the gallbladder and bile ducts. Chronic inflammation of these bile ducts can lead to agonising itching, fatigue and weight loss, as well as liver failure. Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) often necessitates a liver transplant. The disease usually develops between the ages of 30 and 50. In Germany, approximately one in 10,000 people are affected.
The disease is currently incurable
To date, PSC cannot be cured. The only option is to treat the symptoms. Antibiotics are used, for example, but they have a broad spectrum of action and lead to resistance. A team from Hannover Medical School (MHH) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is now researching a new therapeutic approach in the "StopPSC" project – based on flu medication. "We are developing tailor-made therapies for primary sclerosing cholangitis using optimised active ingredients to improve the prognosis for patients," says the project spokesperson, Prof. Dr. Benjamin Heidrich from the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology at MHH.
The state of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation are supporting the project "Sialidase targeting pathoblocker therapy for primary sclerosing cholangitis" (StopPSC) with two million euros as part of the "zukunft.niedersachsen" programme. The programme promotes projects that aim to develop new diagnoses and therapies for rare diseases. Diseases are considered rare if they affect fewer than five in 10,000 people. Rare diseases are often particularly difficult to diagnose and treat.
Research team develops pathoblocker
The research is based on the fact that a complex community of different bacterial species lives in the bile ducts – even in healthy people. When certain bacterial species become more prevalent, the disease worsens. It is not the bacteria themselves that are the problem, but rather the enzymes they produce: so-called sialidases attack the cells of the bile ducts, leaving them unprotected from bile acid and causing inflammation. In the StopPSC project, the researchers now want to develop an active substance that can specifically inhibit sialidases. Such active substances, which inhibit the disease-causing substances produced by bacteria, are called pathoblockers.
The team first uses computers and then laboratories to investigate whether certain flu medications are strong and precise enough. They then want to find out how the active ingredients enter the bile ducts and how they can be distributed effectively there. Their goal is to develop a patent that companies can bring to clinical application. StopPSC builds on previous research conducted as part of the Cluster of Excellence RESIST and the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF). The DZIF also provides financial support to StopPSC.
SERVICE:
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Benjamin Heidrich, heidrich.benjamin@mh-hannover.de.
During a bile duct endoscopy: Dr. Friederike Klein and Prof. Benjamin Heidrich discuss what they can ...
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
During a bile duct endoscopy: Prof. Benjamin Heidrich and Dr. Friederike Klein perform the examinati ...
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
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