To date, the management of cystitis is based on antibiotics. But a new treatment could soon see the light of day. American scientists have developed a “whole cell” vaccine to treat this urinary tract infection.
Urgent need to urinate, pain in the lower abdomen, burning during urination… There is no doubt that this is indeed cystitis. This urinary tract infection located in the bladder is caused by the bacteria Escherichia coli in 90% of cases. Whether it is occasional or recurrent, this common disease in women can make life hell for those who suffer from it.
Vaccination, an alternative to antibiotics
In general, doctors prescribe antibiotics to patients to treat the urinary tract infection. Problem : “Even if you clear the bacteria from the bladder, they persist elsewhere and usually become resistant to the antibiotic being used. When patients build up resistance to antibiotics, they end up running out of options,” said Nicole De Nisco, professor of biology at the University of Texas at Dallas, in a statement.
That’s why, together with other researchers at the establishment, they decided to develop a “whole cell” vaccine to treat cystitis. These have trapped bacteria Escherichia Coli inactivated in a biodegradable shell made of a “metallo-organic structure”. “Vaccination as a therapeutic route for recurrent UTIs is being explored because antibiotics no longer work”, added the scientist. The researchers carried out a study, published in review ACS Nanoto determine the effectiveness of this treatment.
An experiment on mice
For the purposes of their work, the authors carried out an experiment on mice. They used a method called “MOF antigen deposition.” According to Nicole De Nisco, the latter allows an intact and dead pathogen to exist longer in the tissues, as if it were an infection, in order to trigger a large-scale response from the immune system. The scientists also used a strain of bacteria Escherichia colithe cause of about 80% of cystitis.
According to the results, in mice, vaccination would have increased the production of antibodies significantly. “When we subjected these mice to a lethal dose of bacteria, after vaccinating them, almost all the animals survived, which is a much better performance than with traditional vaccine approaches. This result has been seen several times, and we are quite impressed with the reliability of this method”, developed Jeremiah Gassensmith, co-author of the works. The researchers clarified that, now, additional studies must be carried out on human beings.
Below, our program Questions aux Experts on the theme: “What to do in case of cystitis?”
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