“Cysticercosis Research and its Potential Applications in Cancer Immunotherapy: Interview with National Science Award Winner Edda Lydia Sciutto Conde”

Alondra Flores

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday May 28, 2023, p. 2

Immunologist Edda Lydia Sciutto Conde, recognized with the 2022 National Science Award, says that something interesting in science It is that as you gain knowledge, you glimpse that the developments you carry out may have more applications than those that originally promoted them..

For example, after devoting decades of research to cysticercosis, a disease that can affect the central nervous system and the brain, one of the molecules that is part of the vaccine that the researcher designed could help in immunotherapy for cancer, which would be 100 percent Mexican and a low-cost strategyhe pointed out in an interview with The Conference.

In the covid-19 crisis, Sciutto Conde joined the call of science to participate in the search for more effective treatments and worked on the development of a vaccine. He is now awaiting the early publication of a study on nasal dexamethasone for the most effective treatment of the disease caused by the coronavirus.

I have worked many years on controlling inflammation in the central nervous systemshe explains, which makes her hopeful to help various neurological diseases using the new treatments she has explored.

On May 16, the Official Journal of the Federation announced that it was the winner of the highest recognition granted by the Mexican government in the field of technology, innovation and design.

The scientist was part of the dissemination campaign May the vaccine unite usto raise awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated, an act that he considers a social responsibility. Imagine the amount of millionaire investment and it turns out that we do not want to use it, It is nonsense, when there were countries where people continued to die.

Assigned as a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Sciutto Conde was born in Argentina in 1955. She moved to our country at a very young age, where she did her postgraduate studies. The reasons for changing residence were personal, she recounts. Although here she found colleagues who studied cysticercosis and she developed her career, which she dedicates to this day at the Biomedical Research Institute.

We have elements in our body that help us survive in an environment where there are pathogens of different types.responds when asked about the study of the immune system, an area of ​​his specialization.

The immune system, details, allows us to survive in our environment. For example, there are cells that could potentially develop tumors; the immune system constantly monitors that it does not happen and eliminates these cells that could be dangerous for our body.

Immunologists, in addition to understanding how this system works, also seek to increase its efficiency to prevent other diseases., since the immune system has memory and has specificity, two very important elements. When applying vaccines, immunity is generated, but with a component of the pathogen that does not make us sick, that is what we must maintain with vaccination, a level of immunity that does not make us sick.

The advent of the covid provided a very clear example of the role of science, he insists, since First, we did not know how to diagnose and differentiate early if we had another respiratory disease and what were the therapeutic alternatives. Quickly, thanks to scientific work, tools could be discovered to establish the diagnosis, which was one of the first contributions.

Subsequently, vaccines that met the requirements for safety and efficacy emerged, which was demonstrated in an enormous international effort and investment around the world. This is an impressive advance, historically unprecedented in terms of the speed that could be achieved..

▲ Above, screenshots of Rodrigo Sánchez’s capsule to promote the doctoral program of the Biomedical Research Institute of the UNAM. Below, work team headed by Edda Sciutto (fourth, from left to right) who received the Aída Weiss PUIS-UNAM Award in 2017 for her study on the use of the GK-1 peptide as an antitumor agent in breast cancer.Photo captures and courtesy DGCS-UNAM

On the occasion of the National Science Award, the doctor in biomedical research expressed her gratitude for being able to carry out her academic and scientific work in Mexico, as well as for the opportunity to work as a researcher at UNAM.

He affirms that the national distinction (together with three other renowned specialists) is also for the team that has collaborated and has allowed contributions to innovation. As long as I am healthy and mentally functioning correctly, I hope to continue contributing, because we have important projects.

The study of cysticercosis began with his doctorate, in 1986. He dedicated a long timeadmits Dr. Sciutto, focused on understanding the parasitic disease that only affects humans and pigs.

It is interesting, in particular because it is associated with underdevelopment, with non-optimal conditions that promote transmission, in environments without adequate drainage, with a lack of water for washing hands and vegetables, as well as the irrigation of vegetables with sewage; that is, in a disease associated with the third world. We have to find how to fix it.

The topic was propitious for the specialist to offer contributions to make the diagnosis and prevent the disease. She loomed large in her years of research identifying the components of the parasite in order to develop a vaccine.

He says that several versions were achieved, one synthetic and the other recombinant, but they were expensive to produce and there was no interest in the market. Finally, we have not been able to commercialize the vaccine against cysticercosis nor have a company take over the production capacity. It is a vaccine for veterinary use, since the pig plays an essential role in transmission. We are currently trying to develop an oral version within the framework of an antiparasitic that allows us to have a broader application..

The immunologist highlights the importance of understanding the cycle of cysticercosis, where a parasite becomes an intestinal worm or what they call tapeworm. But, in other cases, the larvae or cysticerci can affect the tissues and the brain with larval cysts. By staying in the central nervous system, it causes neurocysticercosis, which is the most serious form of disease in humans.

A person with tapeworm sheds hundreds of thousands of eggs per day, which can develop into cysticerci. So the transmission capacity is very highhe detailed.

With the vaccine in pigs, it is sought that even if the pig is in contact with infected feces, the transmission of the parasitosis can be interrupted and eventually reduce the possibility of man being in contact with eggs.

These are very complex aspects to address, which we are still studying. After so much time, there are questions that we still haven’t fully resolved and contributions that we would like to make, both in prevention and treatment. We have the tools to improve it.

Although there is still no interest in the market to produce this vaccine, the development has another encouraging future in cancer treatment, because although the original purpose was intended to prevent parasitic disease, it was found that some of the molecules identified in the process and that are part of the vaccine against cysticerci, have interesting characteristics that could be used as an immunoenhancer, so it could be used in cancer immunotherapy.

These are the contributions that I hope to see consolidated in the following years.concluded the winner.