Intestinal therapy gives hope in antibiotic crisis

(CONNECT) A new concept could eliminate harmful and even antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut without antibiotics. Emma Slack, Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and at the University of Oxford, worked on the novel approach together with Médéric Diard, Professor at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, and an international team of researchers.

In their study on mice, they showed how highly effective oral vaccines against intestinal pathogens can be formulated: not only by administering the vaccine, but also by combining it with benign bacteria that compete for food with the pathogenic microbes and thus starve them out. The team was able to prevent colonization with salmonella in mice and also effectively combat E. coli bacteria that had already colonized the mice.

This combined approach is more successful than either therapy alone. "We can decimate pathogenic bacteria with a vaccine, but to be successful in the long term, we need good microorganisms to fill the niche created in the intestinal ecosystem," Slack is quoted as saying.

According to the information provided, the new approach could be used to remove harmful bacterial strains in the intestines of patients before surgical procedures in order to prevent resistant germs from jeopardizing any subsequent antibiotic treatment that may be necessary. This would also be particularly important before transplants. The approach could also help before traveling to distant countries where bacterial strains circulate for which the immune system is not prepared.

Research now needs to be extended to certain bacterial strains and humans. In general, according to Slack: "The better we succeed in decimating dangerous and antibiotic-resistant strains in the population, the better it is for everyone's health." ce/mm