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UPFRONT

Healthy gut blocks MS and Parkinson’s

A healthy gut could be an insurance policy in the nervous system and produces MS-like
against multiple sclerosis (MS) and other chronic symptoms, but only the mice with a bacteria-
central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as free gut became infected.
Parkinson’s. When those mice were then fed ‘good’
Microbes in the gut produce compounds bacteria, they too started to produce
that prime our immune cells to destroy harmful an immune response that reversed
viruses in the brain and nervous system. Viral their symptoms of paralysis and other
infections in the brain and spinal cord are thought neurological damage.
to be a catalyst for MS. “Signals from microbes are
These microbes could protect against essential to quickly clear viruses in
other CNS diseases as well, such as paralysis, the central nervous system and prevent
Parkinson’s disease and stroke. damage from MS-like diseases. Our results
A poor diet and antibiotics compromise our gut emphasize the importance of maintaining
bacteria, known as the microbiome, which makes a diverse community of bacteria in
people more susceptible to these diseases. the gut,” said June Round, one of the
Researchers from the University of Utah researchers.
School of Medicine tested the idea on a group of After a course of antibiotics, it’s
laboratory mice, some with healthy gut microbes important to top up the good bacteria with
and others with guts that were bacteria-free. probiotics and a healthy diet, she added.
Both sets were given a dose of mouse hepatitis Elife, 2019 Jul 16; 8. pii: e47117. doi: 10.7554/eLife.47117
virus, which infects cells

Feverfew compound killing leukemia

Feverfew—the common garden plant that combats migraine and arthritic pain—also
contains a compound that kills leukemia, usually considered a chronic and incurable cancer.
Scientists have isolated the compound, parthenolide, to kill chronic lymphocytic leukemia
(CLL) cells in the laboratory.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK say they discovered a method
of isolating the compound and modifying it to enhance its cancer-fighting qualities.
Parthenolide increases the number of unstable molecules in cancer cells until they reach the
point where they self-destruct.
Feverfew is sold in health food stores as a remedy to reduce fever and
inflammation, but its anticancer abilities have been hit or miss, the researchers
say. Their research makes feverfew more “drug-like” in the way it can
target CLL cells, they claim.
This isn’t new; other researchers reported similar findings
in 2005. Researchers from the University of Rochester
Medical School discovered that 18 hours of exposure to
parthenolide could kill off leukemia cells while leaving
alone the surrounding healthy cells. In other words, it
doesn’t appear to have toxic side-effects.
Parthenolide was more effective than the standard
leukemia drug, cytarabine, the Rochester researchers
also discovered. That drug was only “modestly toxic” to
the cancer cells, but “highly toxic” to healthy cells, and so it
was doing more harm than good.
MedChemComm,2019;10:1379–90

HEALTH FACT
The immune-boosting herb

Andrographis can reduce the severity
of cold symptoms

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