Whipple's disease is one of the rare chronic infections caused by the actinobacterium Tropheryma whipplei. The multisystemic means that Whipple's disease infection can involve many organs. As is the case with so many research diseases, finding a therapy for Whipple's disease is incredibly difficult due to the unusualness of the infection, particularly for gastrointestinal Whipple's disease. Here at Protheragen, we concentrate on holistic, one-stop solutions to therapy development for such diseases.

Introduction to Whipple's Disease

Whipple's disease is an infection that is prolonged in nature, holistic in scope, and has the potential to impact various organs. Its key targets include the joints, the central nervous system, and the small intestine's mucosa. It has an exceedingly low incidence rate ranging from 1 to 3 cases per million people and is mostly seen in middle-aged men.

One subtype of Whipple's disease, often referred to as classic Whipple's disease, depends on the detection of the bacteria in the involved tissues which primarily is the small intestine. The intestinal walls have lesions (sores) resulting from the mucosal layer being attacked first. The bacteria also damage the small intestine's villi, the hair-like structures that project out from the small intestine.

Fig.1 Duodenoscopy and duodenal biopsy. (Holstein, A., et al., 2023)

Pathogenesis of Whipple's Disease

Whipple's disease arises from the extensive genetic diversity possessed by the gram-positive bacterium Tropheryma whipplei. While the condition is rare, the causative agent is present in the environment and can be contracted from sewage outlets, healthy carriers, and self-limiting gastrointestinal infections. Studies have also demonstrated that Whipple's disease is related to particular human major histocompatibility complex genes, HLA-DRB1*13 and HLA-DQB1*06, where these polymorphisms cause deficiencies in the Th1 immune response towards Tropheryma whipplei and increase the Th2 response instead.

Fig.2 Pathophysiology of Whipple's disease. (Boumaza, A., et al., 2022)

Therapeutics Development for Whipple's Disease

Disclaimer: Protheragen focuses on providing preclinical research services. This table is for information exchange purposes only. This table is not a treatment plan recommendation. For guidance on treatment options, please visit a regular hospital.

Our Services

Every illness is different from one another in every aspect, and so are the methods used to cure them. Therefore, we work with clients to comprehend their complexities and foreseen therapeutic development obstacles and develop proper approaches to meet them. The deep knowledge of our professionals is enriched by creativity which enables the projection of therapeutic development concepts to market reality. In addition, we also provide services for the development of disease models meant for the research community.

Therapeutic Development Services

• Small Molecule Drug
• Cell Therapy Development
• Gene Therapy Development
• Therapeutic Antibody

• Therapeutic Peptide
• Therapeutic Protein
• Microbiome Therapeutic
• More

Animal Model Development Services

Research on the animal models of Whipple's disease is essential for understanding the pathogenesis, immune dynamics, and therapy development for this disease. Our company offers novel animal model development services to facilitate Whipple disease therapy discovery and progress.

Tropheryma whipplei infected model

Tropheryma whipplei infected animal model provides insights into the development of symptoms like gastrointestinal dysfunctions, as well as pathological lesions and other sequelae accompanying Whipple's disease.

Protheragen's solutions encompass every aspect of therapy development about pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and drug safety evaluation. If you are looking for a dedicated partner in the therapy development of Whipple's disease, contact us today and discover how we can support your research endeavors.

References

• Cappellini, Alessandro et al. "Whipple's disease: A rare disease that can be spotted by many doctors." European journal of internal medicine 121 (2024): 25-29.
• Holstein, A et al. "Gastrointestinal: Whipple's disease: Often taught but rarely seen and diagnosed late." Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology 38.10 (2023): 1679.
• Boumaza, Asma et al. "Whipple's disease and Tropheryma whipplei infections: from bench to bedside." The Lancet. Infectious diseases 22.10 (2022): e280-e291.

All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.