A virus that causes leprosy has been shown to regenerate the liver of an armadillo. The development of related technologies is expected to help treat livers damaged by cirrhosis or fatty liver and reduce the demand for liver transplants.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the UK found that the leprosy virus (Mycobacterium leprae), which hosts armadillos, returns armadillos’ liver cells to a youthful state, allowing the liver to grow and grow in size. The newly grown liver had an intact structure without any other side effects such as tumors or inflammation.
The study was recently published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.
The research team previously found that when the leprosy virus spreads to Schwann cells around the outside of nerve cells, Schwann cells return to hepatocytes (progenitor cells). Hepatocytes are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into different cell types. It returns mature cells to a youthful state, making them similar to stem cells.
Through this study, the research team proved that this phenomenon occurs not only in cells but also in real animals.
When 57 armadillos infected with the leprosy virus were compared with normal armadillos, the livers of the infected armadillos were about a third larger than those of the uninfected armadillos. In addition, the liver of the infected armadillo was in a healthy state with internal tissues such as blood vessels, bile ducts, and cell lobes developing normally. This is in contrast to the side effects such as tumors and inflammation in current cell regeneration studies using stem cells or hepatocytes.
In addition, the infected armadillo’s liver cells returned to their youthful state. The patterns of gene expression that make up the cells are similar to those of young animals and human fetal liver cells. Genes associated with metabolism, growth, and cell proliferation were activated, while genes associated with aging were inhibited.
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The researchers hypothesized that this was the result of the virus interfering with the function of cell growth and regeneration, returning the liver cells to a youthful state and promoting growth, thereby expanding their habitat and creating a favorable environment for their survival.
It is not known how these bacteria regenerate liver tissue. Professor Anura Rambucana from the University of Edinburgh said, “If we can find out how bacteria grow healthy liver tissue without side effects, it could be applied to treat liver disease caused by aging and regenerate damaged tissue.”
