Researchers at James Cook University have discovered that toxins from stonefish may offer a new way to combat parasitic worm infections that affect nearly 25% of the global population. The study, led by JCU Ph.D. candidate Danica Lennox-Bulow, has been published in the journal Toxins. She noted that parasitic gastrointestinal worms, known as helminths, pose a significant challenge worldwide, and the situation appears to be deteriorating.
“It’s estimated that over 2 billion people, or a little over 24% of the global population, are currently infected with helminths. They can cause intestinal issues, organ damage, skin conditions, malnutrition and impaired growth and physical development,” said Lennox-Bulow.
Additionally, the current medications are proving to be less and less effective against the worms.
“It’s well-established that resistance has developed against all major classes of drugs used against helminth species that infect livestock.
“Within the last decade, cases of drug resistance have also emerged for helminth species that infect pets and humans. As such, new drugs with novel mechanisms of action are urgently needed,” said Lennox-Bulow.
She said the scientists decided to test stonefish toxins because of an interesting phenomenon.
“Stonefish live on the seabed and don’t have scales. As such, we would expect these animals to harbor a lot of parasites—but interestingly, they don’t. One theory is that their ichthyocrinotoxins—toxins they secrete on their skin—afford them some protection against parasites,” said Lennox-Bulow.
Researchers examined the skin toxins from Queensland’s Estuarine Stonefish and Reef Stonefish to see how they affected the infective larval stage of the Rodent Hookworm, which burrows into the skin.
“While skin toxins from both stonefish species were found to be toxic to rodent hookworm larvae, those from the Estuarine Stonefish displayed the most favorable characteristics for therapeutic application.
“Specifically, the small size of the active components and their limited toxicity to mammalian cells in vitro are highly encouraging,” said Lennox-Bulow.
She said components within the skin toxins from the Estuarine Stonefish show promise for therapeutic development.
“There’s still a lot of work to do before stonefish skin toxins are as effective against parasites as established drugs are. We need to drill down to find exactly what the active components are and we need to test these against a wider range of parasite sp
