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Achim Hörauf
© J. Saba
Prof. Dr. Achim Hörauf

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Affiliations
  • Institut für Med. Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Parasitologie (IMMIP)
Research topics
  • tropical medicine
  • neglected tropical diseases
  • clinical microbiology
Professor Hoerauf is internationally renowned for his work in Tropical Medicine, specifically, for pioneering a new drug treatment for filariasis (a group of neglected tropical diseases). The new treatment exploits the symbiosis between the filarial nematodes and bacterial endosymbionts called Wolbachia, which are susceptible to some classes of antibiotic. The feasibility of delivering a safe macrofilaricidal drug has sparked the development of macrofilaricidal research programmes by the Gates Foundation and DNDi. Prof. Hoerauf’s group was the first to characterize a TLR2 ligand from Wolbachia, and established that blindness brought about by filarial antigens as the worm larvae migrate into the eye in onchocerciasis (or “river blindness”) is dependent on Wolbachia, and again mediated by the innate immune system. Prof. Hoerauf’s second focus is in the field of infection immunity, where his group was the first to detect regulatory T cells in humans in an infection.
Selected publications

Hoerauf A, Volkmann L, Hamelmann C, Adjei O, Autenrieth IB, Fleischer B, Büttner DW (2000) Endosymbiotic bacteria in worms as targets for a novel chemotherapy in filariasis. Lancet 355:1242-3

Saint André A, Blackwell NM, Hall LR, Hoerauf A, Brattig NW, Volkmann L, Taylor MJ, Ford L, Hise AG, Lass JH, Diaconu E, Pearlman E (2002) The role of endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria in the pathogenesis of river blindness. Science 295(5561):1892-5

Debrah AY, Specht S, Klarmann-Schulz U, Batsa L, Mand S, Marfo-Debrekyei Y, Fimmers R, Dubben B, Kwarteng A, Osei-Atweneboana M, Boakye D, Ricchiuto A, Büttner M, Adjei O, Mackenzie CD, Hoerauf A (2015). Doxycycline Leads to Sterility and Enhanced Killing of Female Onchocerca volvulus Worms in an Area With Persistent Microfilaridermia After Repeated Ivermectin Treatment: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial. Clin Infect Dis 61(4):517-26

Klarmann-Schulz U, Specht S, Debrah AY, Batsa L, Ayisi-Boateng NK, Osei-Mensah J, Mubarik Y, Konadu P, Ricchiuto A, Fimmers R, Arriens S, Dubben B, Ford L, Taylor M, Hoerauf A (2017) Comparison of Doxycycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline plus Albendazole and Albendazole Alone in Their Efficacy against Onchocerciasis in a Randomized, Open-Label, Pilot Trial. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 11(1):e0005156

Taylor MJ, von Geldern TW, Ford L, Hübner MP, Marsh K, Johnston KL, Sjoberg HT, Specht S, Pionnier N, Tyrer HE, Clare RH, Cook DAN, Murphy E, Steven A, Archer J, Bloemker D, Lenz F, Koschel M, Ehrens A, Metuge HM, Chunda VC, Ndongmo Chounna PW, Njouendou AJ, Fombad FF, Carr R, Morton HE, Aljayyoussi G, Hoerauf A, Wanji S, Kempf DJ, Turner JD, Ward SA (2019) Preclinical development of an oral anti-Wolbachia macrolide drug for the treatment of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Sci Transl Med 11(483). pii: eaau2086

Achim Hörauf
© J. Saba
Prof. Dr. Achim Hörauf

Website

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