Analysis of Small Molecule Analogues of the helminth immunomodulator Dissertation

Analysis of Small Molecule Analogues of the helminth immunomodulator ES-62 for inhibitory effects on mast cell function - Dissertation Example However, particularly in countries where helminth infections are endemic, these diseases remain comparatively rare. There is increasing evidence indicating that helminth infections and inflammatory diseases share an inverse relationship. Therefore, helminths have been the focus of recent studies. William Harnett and his team discovered an immunomodulator ES-62 secreted by a parasitic worm that is known to hold a strong cure for allergic and autoimmune diseases, such as asthma and arthritis. However, there are some practical implications associated with a high level of ES-62 production that renders it unable to be used as a drug. Hence, it is hypothesized that synthesis of ES-62 derived SMAs based around its Phosphorylcholine moiety can mimic the effect of the parent molecule and have a potential to be used as a drug for clinical trials. This project investigated the effect of SMAs on mast cells by implementing the Rat Basophilic leukaemia degranulation assay in which SMA 53 and SMA S 3 were found to inhibit Fc?RI-mediated mast cell proliferation. Also, a substantial decrease was observed in IL-6 and TNF-? cytokines production. The data presented here established that some SMAs certainly have potential to induce the same effects as ES-62 and thus to be used as a therapeutic agent. Introduction Tropical parasites disease affects millions of people throughout the developing world. These infectious diseases cause long term suffering which leads to significant economical damage. For this reason, The World Health Organization has committed to fight and extirpate many of the most costly diseases (W.H.O, 1990). 1.1 Filarial nematode Filarial nematodes are thread like worms that infect up to 1/3 of the human population and cause diseases such as river blindness and elephantiasis (Harnett and Harnett, 2010). People infected by these worms appear to be comparatively asymptomatic, even when they are carrying a noticeable parasite burden (Harnett et al., 2010). According to a number of reviews, infected individuals can harbour more than one type of parasite, but major tissue habitants of humans are the filarial nematodes which usually live in the lymphatic system or the subcutaneous tissue (Harnett and Harnett, 2008a; Schmidt and Roberts, 1989). Infection with such worms is transmitted to humans by blood-sucking insects that act as an intermediate host; they do this by transferring L3 stage larvae to humans (Harnett and Harnett, 2008a). Fig. 1: This diagram illustrates the life cycle of filarial nematode and how the worm is transmitted into the human body [6]. The duration of these infections are very long as an individual worm can survive for up to 10 years, which indicates the importance of this parasitic worm in the medical field (Harnett et al., 2010; Harnett and Harnett, 2008a; W.H.O, 2000). Over the past decade it has been hypothesised that filarial nematodes may protect against autoimmune and allergic inflammations. For this reason, parasitic ne matodes have been involved in many recent studies and there is now enough evidence to prove that nematode-derived immunomodulators play a fundamental role in preventing inflammatory diseases in the human populat

How does FTAs(Free Trade Agreements) affect between U.S and South Essay

How does FTAs(Free Trade Agreements) affect between U.S and South Korea - Essay Example And now they are finally reached an agreement for free trade between two countries. And South Koreans are quiet happy over it, because South Koreans economic analysts felt that as a unilateral threat. It was announced on 2nd February, 2007 and was finalized on 2nd April 2007. It is believed to be the second biggest Free Trade agreement by United States. South Korea is one of the largest exporters in auto market and also electronics market, so there is a lot of scope for Korean goods in United States. Now the ninety percent tariff would be eliminated on goods being imported from these countries. After Free Trade agreement they can easily export their goods in United States, which was a major concern of Koreans. They used to think that United States is taking more benefits from their country, as Korea is one of the biggest markets for US goods, so it was the reason that they consider economic ties between United States and Korea as unilateral instead of bilateral. The Free Trade Agreement or Treaty between United States and South Korea is beneficial and profitable for not only the governments who will definitely gain a lot of profit but mainly for the people of two countries, who will likely to be the major winners in this situation. They will have access to the new products on a reasonable price and also they will get new jobs, which is a result of new industries and investments. The trade relations between United States of America ... US helped in Korean independence and also played a major role in dividing two Koreas after World War II and like this two Koreas were formed, North Korea and South Korea. The relations between United States and South Korea are widespread from the beginning, since its independence in 1948. They shared great ties in political, economical and military grounds. US troops have been deployed in South Korea, as accordingly South Korea faces a serious military threat by its not-so-friendly neighbor, North Korea, but there comes a tragic incident of death of two girls by US troops in an accident during their training. The rage of nationalism hits South Korean at that point and now US is withdrawing its troops. Although they got internal pressure from their own country regarding this, as there are voices heard for that how economically expensive it is to deploy their troops in South Korea and that is also just for the threat by some other country. Although President Bush accused North Korea, along with Iran and Iraq as the "Axis of Evil", in his early days of president ship but now with the recent peace developments between North and South Korea, there is litt le need for US troops. The first reason for this is the insecurity felt by South Koreans regarding their trade relations with United States. South Korea is included in ten biggest markets of United States goods, which means that United States is earning a lot of revenue from South Korean market. But it is not the same with South Korea. They were not earning much from United States and this was what makes South Koreans insecure about this relationship. The analysts used to call it "unilateral relation"1. I think that with the background of this reason, it is the best that United States did.