意大利研制针对溃疡细菌的疫苗
Vaccine Targets Ulcer Bacterium
SATURDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthSCOUT) -- Some of the best medical news of the past century was the detection of the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers -- Helicobacter pylori, (H. pylori) -- and the determination that antibiotics could control it.
But with worldwide concern about over-use of antibiotics, researchers have turned their focus to more permanent methods for keeping H. pylori at bay, and now there's a promising vaccine on the horizon.
, http://www.100md.com
The news comes out of Italy, where researchers at the University of Padua say a vaccine they've developed specifically for the bacterium has already proven effective in animals and will go into clinical trials later this year.
H. pylori in effect burrows through the thick layer of mucus lining in the gut and invades cells, injecting a toxin called VacA into them. That causes internal structures called late endosomes to swell and then spill enzymes called hydrolases out of the infested cell. The chain of events wreaks havoc in the stomach.
, http://www.100md.com
The experimental vaccine, produced by Chiron Vaccines of Siena, Italy, works by targeting the point at which the bacterium injects VacA into a cell it has invaded, the researchers say. They call it a perfect weak link for a vaccine to target because the immune system can recognize the toxin.
Dr. David Graham, the chief of gastroenterology at the V.A. Medical Center in Houston and a renowned expert on H. pylori, says the need for such a vaccine may not be urgent in the United States, where levels of the bacteria in the population have sharply dropped.
, http://www.100md.com
But it could mean major relief for developing countries where the situation is pressing, he says.
"Antibiotics are useful in countries where the frequency and reinfection rates are low. But if you go to a developing countries, you'll find some serious problems. All developing countries are better served by a vaccine than antibiotics," Graham explains.
"And then there are places like [South] Korea, where you've got a country with a First World economy [and] a Third World stomach. Something like 7 percent of adult males there die of gastric cancer, and the frequency of reinfection is about 70 percent," Graham says.
, 百拇医药
Pointing to the improved sanitation and healthier lifestyles that are behind the decrease in H. pylori rates in the United States, Graham adds that similar changes are needed in other parts of the world.
"Until those other countries have that improved sanitation and lifestyle, they're going to continue to have these infectious diseases," he says., http://www.100md.com
SATURDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthSCOUT) -- Some of the best medical news of the past century was the detection of the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers -- Helicobacter pylori, (H. pylori) -- and the determination that antibiotics could control it.
But with worldwide concern about over-use of antibiotics, researchers have turned their focus to more permanent methods for keeping H. pylori at bay, and now there's a promising vaccine on the horizon.
, http://www.100md.com
The news comes out of Italy, where researchers at the University of Padua say a vaccine they've developed specifically for the bacterium has already proven effective in animals and will go into clinical trials later this year.
H. pylori in effect burrows through the thick layer of mucus lining in the gut and invades cells, injecting a toxin called VacA into them. That causes internal structures called late endosomes to swell and then spill enzymes called hydrolases out of the infested cell. The chain of events wreaks havoc in the stomach.
, http://www.100md.com
The experimental vaccine, produced by Chiron Vaccines of Siena, Italy, works by targeting the point at which the bacterium injects VacA into a cell it has invaded, the researchers say. They call it a perfect weak link for a vaccine to target because the immune system can recognize the toxin.
Dr. David Graham, the chief of gastroenterology at the V.A. Medical Center in Houston and a renowned expert on H. pylori, says the need for such a vaccine may not be urgent in the United States, where levels of the bacteria in the population have sharply dropped.
, http://www.100md.com
But it could mean major relief for developing countries where the situation is pressing, he says.
"Antibiotics are useful in countries where the frequency and reinfection rates are low. But if you go to a developing countries, you'll find some serious problems. All developing countries are better served by a vaccine than antibiotics," Graham explains.
"And then there are places like [South] Korea, where you've got a country with a First World economy [and] a Third World stomach. Something like 7 percent of adult males there die of gastric cancer, and the frequency of reinfection is about 70 percent," Graham says.
, 百拇医药
Pointing to the improved sanitation and healthier lifestyles that are behind the decrease in H. pylori rates in the United States, Graham adds that similar changes are needed in other parts of the world.
"Until those other countries have that improved sanitation and lifestyle, they're going to continue to have these infectious diseases," he says., http://www.100md.com