Vaccine May Cut Liver Scarring, Study Suggests

An experimental vaccine may greatly reduce potentially fatal liver scarring from a worm infection that afflicts some 200 million people worldwide, a mouse study suggests.

In the disease, schistosomiasis, the scarring can occur as the body tries to wall off worm eggs in the liver. The scarring can cause high blood pressure in the liver, which can lead to death.

In the new study, the vaccine reduced liver and intestinal scarring in mice by about 72%, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere report in the Aug. 17 issue of Nature.

Unlike standard vaccines, the experimental one is not intended to prevent infection. Instead, it steers the immune system away from responding to the worm eggs in a way that can lead to scarring.