Anyone who has ever developed a urinary tract infection (UTI) knows that it can be painful, pesky and persistent. UTIs and women who suffer mostly have a high recurrence rate – up to 50% of women get at least one UTI in their lifetime.
However, what if patients could take a vaccine that would stop UTIs in the future? In a March 1 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Duke researchers are outlining a new vaccine strategy that they think could reprogram the body to fight against the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections.
“Although several vaccines against UTIs have been tested in clinical trials, to date they have had little success,” said Soman Abraham, Ph.D., Grace Kerby’s Distinguished Professor of Pathology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics & Microbiology School of Medicine and senior author of the paper.
“Currently effective UTI vaccines are not available for use in the U.S. despite the prevalence of bladder infections,” Abraham said. “Our study outlines the potential for a highly effective bladder vaccine that can not only eliminate leftover bladder bacteria, but also prevent future infections.”
The strategy, which the team has shown to be effective in mouse models, involves reprogramming an inappropriate defense response identified by the team last year. They claimed that when mouse spies catch E. coli bacteria, the immune system sends out repair cells to heal the damaged substance, causing launch very few heroic cells to fight against the invader. This causes bacteria to never clear up, staying on it in the attacking garden again.
According to lead author Jianxuan Wu, Ph.D., who recently earned his doctorate from Duke’s Department of Immunology, “the new vaccination strategy seeks to teach the garden to fight more effectively from the invading bacteria.By administering the vaccine directly into the placenta where the remaining bacteria harbor, the highly effective vaccine antigen, in conjunction with a known antagonist to increase the recruitment of bacterial clearance cells, outperforming traditional intramuscular vaccines. “
The researchers said vaccinated mice effectively fought E. coli and eliminated all remaining bladder bacteria, suggesting that the site of administration could be an important issue in determining the efficacy of a vaccine.
“We are encouraged by these findings, and as the individual components of the vaccine have previously been shown to be safe for human use, clinical trials may be required to confirm these findings. to do it fairly quickly, “Abraham said.
Source:
Duke University Medical Center