A team of scientists found in France a possible clue to combat malaria or leishmaniosis in humans thanks to the study of the microbiota of penguins, known in detail after immunizing them against another disease, aspergilosis, a Cuban researcher told Efe.
The immunization of penguins against this serious fungal disease was made through the strengthening of their bacteria of the intestine by introducing a weakened sugar present in that ailment, which stimulated the production of antibodies, the same ones that also act in the fight against other pathogens such as malaria or leishmaniosis.
The carbohydrate in question, called Alpha-Gal, naturally figure in certain intestinal bacteria and in pathogens of various diseases, and only birds, fish, primates and human beings produce antibodies against it.
During this year, the microxpace researchers team, with three Cubans, a Mexican, a Paraguayan and a Spanish among its ranks, will introduce the Chickgalx formula, capsules with this molecule that will act as “deactivated bacteria” to accelerate the production of defenses in the fish that ingests the hundred penguins that houses the Parisian zoo of Beauval.
This Zoo Park promoted the project in collaboration with Microxpace and the Canadian company Lallemand, which produces and provides the necessary microorganisms.
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Pingüinos microbiota, immune hope against malaria or leishmaniosis
One of the Microxpace founders, Cuban Alejandro Cabezas, assured Efe that it is a pioneering investigation because it tries orally, without syringes, “a stimulation at the intestinal level that occurs naturally and that, at high levels, it protects you against pathogens such as malaria, Chagas disease, leishmaniosis or coccidiosis,” he said.
The reduction of the mortality of penguins through the administration of Alpha-Gal would not only improve the living conditions of exotic birds in zoological environments, but also opened a door for the prevention of infectious diseases in humans.
“In Africa it was studied that people who had bacteria within their microbiota with the presence of Alpha-Gal were better protected against malaria when the mosquito season began,” says the researcher.
Before this long -lasting trial, the Chickgalx formulation has been administered to other birds and for shorter periods of time to rule out adverse effects on penguins, and this first month in the Beaucal Zoo “the trial is going very well and there is no death report by aspergilosis.”
Aspergilosis is a disease caused by the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, a mold that proliferates more easily in the artificial environments of the zoos and that can affect immunosuppressed people, who can cause a respiratory infection.
Any way of “stimulating the immune response of penguins to prevent this disease is clearly one of the biggest challenges in current zoological medicine,” said the veterinary chief of the Beauval Zoo, Antoine Leclerc.
With EFE information.
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