Research Provides Insight into H. Pylori Infection

H. pylori

bacterium, research that may lead to the development of a vaccine against infection from the bacterium.

The initiation of an immune response by the body when an infection is present leads to a specific set of cells activating new immune cells, which are then guided to the site of the infection to fight it. According to study author

H. pylori

Malin Hansson,

infection prevents many of these immune cells from reaching the site of the infection.

Helicobacter pylori

“

Helicobacter pylori

inhibits our immune defense, preventing it from attacking the bacteria with sufficient strength, despite an immune response being activated," said Hansson, a biologist. “It causes immune cells to accumulate in tissue. Many of the cells that ought to collect more new immune cells stop at these accumulations and begin activating these instead, leading to chronic inflammation, which we believe benefits

.”

H. pylori

According to Hansson, this thesis could eventually lead to the development of a vaccine against gastric adenocarcinoma, as previous research has shown that many patients with these tumors have “low levels of a specific type of antibody in tissue, even though

normally causes unusually high levels of antibodies.” Because of this, Hansson said, these antibodies should then be able to protect individuals against gastric adenocarcinoma, and the biologist “has been able to show that these antibodies are attracted to tissue by a signal substance called MEC” in human samples.

"If these antibodies really can protect against development of gastric adenocarcinoma, it would be possible to develop a vaccine that increases MEC expression and thus the number of antibodies present in tissue," Hansson said.

A new thesis from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden provides insight into the inability of the human body to rid itself of the