Clostridium difficile infections affect hundreds of thousands of Americans each year, but new research from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, may help develop a vaccine for the pathogen in the near future.
Scientists at the institute constructed a molecule that resembles the characteristic sugar coating on the surface of bacteria and can produce a similar immune response as the bacterium itself. Since the immune system can produce antibodies against the pathogen, the molecule can be used as an inexpensive and effective vaccine, thus protecting patients against C. diff.
"Our findings are a very good example of how basic research into the human immune response to sugars can lead to new candidates in the fight against dangerous hospital germs," said Peter H. Seeberger, PhD, director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.
Already, the scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam are collaborating with Vaxxilon AG, which has licensed a portfolio of vaccine candidates, including candidates for C. diff.
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