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"The hookworm could not reach the gut if it didn't use the lung," Nair said. When it is coughed up and swallowed, it then travels to the gut, the second organ it infects. When blood vessels break and hemorrhaging follows, the hookworm feeds on the blood (it cannot, however, survive in blood). Nair explained that the hookworm proceeds to damage the lung, the first organ it infects. After penetrating the skin, the hookworm-about 5 millimeters in length-travels from the bloodstream to the lung. In her career, Nair has done considerable research on hookworms, soil-transmitted nematodes that infect an estimated 2 billion people worldwide-mostly in developing countries where sanitation is poor and people are often barefoot. Study results appear in the April 1 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. It is important evidence that mammals have regulatory systems in place not to kill pathogens, but instead to dampen the immune response because this, overall, benefits the host." But that's not what RELMalpha sets out to do. "We think the immune system is all about killing the parasite. Nair, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical sciences, whose lab led the research that focused on the hookworm as the parasite of study. "This is counterintuitive," said Meera G. Resistin is expected to function similarly in humans. RELMalpha, made by mice to dampen the immune system response, focuses on protecting the body's tissues.
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But these cytokines-proteins made by immune cells-can also attack the body's tissues and damage them. Because pathogens do us damage, the body naturally releases proteins to kill the pathogens. As mammals, we have an immune system to fight pathogens that attack us.