An experimental vaccine developed by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections has demonstrated positive initial results when tested in mice.
The vaccine contains EbpA, a protein found in Enterococcus faecalis, a bacteria that often causes CAUTIs, that allows the bacteria to bind to a host and form biofilm. Biofilms protect bacteria from antibiotics and immune cells and increase a patient's risk of infection.
When researchers administered infected mice with the vaccine, their immune systems produced antibodies that blocked the protein and the subsequent infection.
The next steps are to see if the vaccine can clear established E. faecalis infections.
"The segment of genetic code that makes this part of the protein is also found in the genes of many other bacteria that cause urinary tract infections, so a vaccine, antibody or drug that blocks this part of the protein may help prevent other infections linked to catheters in the urinary tract and in other parts of the body," said Ana Lidia Flore-Mireles, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Medicine.
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