Discovery paves way for salmonella vaccine

February 13, 2012 in Medical research

(Medical Xpress) -- An international research team led by a University of California, Davis, immunologist has taken an important step toward an effective vaccine against salmonella, a group of increasingly antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria that kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year.

The researchers’ discovery will be published the week of Feb. 13 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research team has identified a set of — molecules in the invading that trigger an immune response — that is common to both mice and humans.

“These antigens will provide the research community with a foundation for developing a protective vaccine,” said Stephen McSorley, an immunologist and associate professor in the UC Davis Center for Comparative Medicine, which investigates diseases that afflict both humans and animals.

Salmonella bacteria cause foodborne illness in industrialized nations. More than 1.4 million cases occur annually in the United States alone, according to the World Health Organization, at an estimated cost of $3 billion and the loss of 580 lives.

There are currently no vaccines for the strains of salmonella that cause these type of illnesses.

Furthermore, salmonella bacteria increasingly are becoming resistant to existing antibiotic treatments. And no new, effective antibiotics are on the horizon.

“Although salmonella infections are extremely important to human and animal health around the world, up until this time, the target antigens that are so key to developing a vaccine had not been clearly defined,” McSorley said.

In an effort to identify those antigens, the research team created an array, or collection, of 2,700 proteins, representing approximately 60 percent of all proteins produced by salmonella bacteria. The researchers found that 117 of those proteins behaved as antigens when mixed with blood serum from salmonella-infected mice, triggering an immune response to defend against the bacterial infection. Fourteen of those proteins were common to all four strains of mice involved in the study.

The researchers also identified 14 proteins that served as antigens in the blood serum from Malawian children infected with salmonella. Eight of those 14 proteins, or 57 percent, were among the 117 antigens identified in the mice.

“Discovery of the eight antigens in both mouse and human infections suggests that some of these antigens might be successfully used in developing a vaccine to protect against salmonella and that the mouse model of salmonella will be useful before research moves into clinical trials,” McSorley said.

Provided by UC Davis search and more info website

5 /5 (7 votes)  

Rank 5 /5 (7 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

How healthy are you for your age?

On May 22, JoVE will publish details of a technique to measure the health of human genetic material in relation to a patient's age. The method is demonstrated by the laboratory of Dr. Gil Atzmon at New York's Albert Einste ...

Medical research created 15 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A molecular explanation for age-related fertility decline in women

(Medical Xpress)—Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have a new theory as to why a woman's fertility declines after her mid-30s. They also suggest an approach that might help slow ...

Medical research created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Medical researchers discover new ways to target, develop and design drugs to prevent and treat viral infection

Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a new drug target, developed a new drug and identified a new way to design drugs—all of which could be a winning combination in the battle against viruses.

Medical research created 2 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Targeting the X-factor to tackle cardiovascular disease

New research at The University of Nottingham aimed at preventing harmful blood clots associated with heart disease and stroke has recently received a major funding boost from the British Heart Foundation.

Medical research created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Italy approves law on controversial stem cell therapy

Italian lawmakers on Wednesday gave their final approval to a law that allows limited use of a controversial type of stem cell therapy which has been condemned by many scientists but has given hope to families of terminally-ill ...

Medical research created 2 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1


Addiction to unhealthy foods could help explain the global obesity epidemic

Research presented today shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, ...

Study shows low rate of late lumen loss with bioresorbable DESolve device

The DESolve bioresorbable coronary scaffold system achieves good efficacy and safety with low rates of late lumen loss and major coronary adverse events at six months, show first results from the pivotal DESolve Nx trial ...

Study finds COPD is over-diagnosed among uninsured patients

More than 40 percent of patients being treated for COPD at a federally funded clinic did not have the disease, researchers found after evaluating the patients with spirometry, the diagnostic "gold standard" for chronic obstructive ...

Registry questions superiority of bivalirudin over heparin

Results from a large observational study reported at EuroPCR 2013 today question whether bivalirudin is superior to heparin in the absence of GPIIb/IIIa blockade, showing similar 30-day mortality in patients with non-ST segment ...

New blood-thinner measures may cut medication errors

Blood thinners are the preferred treatment option to prevent heart attacks, blood clots and stroke, but they are not without risk, and not just because of their side effects. These high-risk drugs, known as anticoagulants, ...

Small increase in cancer risk following CT scans in childhood and adolescence

Study leader, Professor John Mathews from the University of Melbourne said this small increase in cancer risk must be weighed against the undoubted benefits from CT scans in diagnosing and monitoring disease.