An experimental vaccine that targets dozens of strains of the bacterium that causes pneumonia has the potential to significantly bring down the number of deaths due to the disease, a new study says.
The vaccine provoked an immune response to 72 forms of Streptococcus pneumoniae in laboratory tests on animals, according to the study published in the journal, ‘Science Advances’.
“We’ve made tremendous progress fighting the spread of pneumonia, especially among children. But if we’re ever going to rid ourselves of the disease, we need to create smarter and more cost-effective vaccines,” said the study’s co-lead author Blaine Pfeifer, Associate Professor at University at Buffalo in New York.
In 2004, pneumonia killed more than two million children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). By 2015, the number was less than one million.
Better access to antibiotics and improved nutrition account for part of the decline. But scientists say it’s mostly due to vaccines introduced in the early 2000s that target up to 23 of the most deadly forms of the bacterium that causes pneumonia — Streptococcus pneumoniae.
As the new vaccine under development targets additional strains of S. pneumoniae — including the 23 mentioned above – it could, the researchers beleive, deal another blow to the disease.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-08-07 11:26:392020-08-07 11:26:39Finally a cure ? New vaccine raises hope of reducing pneumonia deaths
Scientists have developed a novel vaccine candidate that may prevent HIV infection by stimulating an immune response against sugars that form a protective shield around the virus. Scientists have developed a novel vaccine candidate that may prevent HIV infection by stimulating an immune response against sugars that form a protective shield around the virus.
“An obstacle to creating an effective HIV vaccine is the difficulty of getting the immune system to generate antibodies against the sugar shield of multiple HIV strains,” said Lai-Xi Wang, a professor at University of Maryland in the US. “Our method addresses this problem by designing a vaccine component that mimics a protein-sugar part of this shield,” said Wang.
Researchers designed a vaccine candidate using an HIV protein fragment linked to a sugar group. When injected into rabbits, the vaccine candidate stimulated an antibody response against the sugar shield in four different HIV strains. The protein fragment of the vaccine candidate comes from gp120, a protein that covers HIV like a protective envelope.
A sugar shield covers the gp120 envelope, bolstering HIV’s defenses. The rare HIV-infected individuals who can keep the virus at bay without medication typically have antibodies that attack gp120. Researchers have tried to create an HIV vaccine targeting gp120, but had little success as the sugar shield on HIV resembles sugars found in the human body and therefore does not stimulate a strong immune response.
More than 60 strains of HIV exist and the virus mutates frequently. As a result, antibodies against gp120 from one HIV strain will not protect against other strains. To overcome these challenges, researchers focused on a small fragment of gp120 protein that is common among HIV strains. They used a synthetic chemistry to combine the gp120 fragment with a sugar molecule, also shared among HIV strains, to mimic the sugar shield on the HIV envelope. Researchers then injected the protein-sugar vaccine candidate into rabbits and found that the rabbits’ immune systems produced antibodies that were physically bound to gp120 found in four dominant strains of HIV in circulation. “This result was significant because producing antibodies that directly target the defensive sugar shield is an important step in developing immunity against the target and therefore the first step in developing a truly effective vaccine,” Wang said.
“But the ability of the vaccine candidate to raise substantial antibodies against the sugar shield in only two months is encouraging. Other studies took up to four years to achieve similar results. This means that our molecule is a relatively strong inducer of the immune response,” he added.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-08-07 11:07:572020-08-07 11:07:57Experimental vaccine may protect against HIV infection
Over 11, 500 kilometers away from her hometown in Kerala, PhD student Juby Mathew is seen neck-deep in work at the laboratory of Ferrier Research Institute in Wellington, New Zealand.
Juby is the only Indian in Professor Gavin Painter’s research group that is works on discovering vaccines to life-threatening illnesses. Juby in particular is involved with the development of a breast cancer vaccine candidate.
The research on breast cancer vaccine has been underway since 2013, and recently the institute was able to conduct the vaccine trials on animals. Over $5,00,000 are being invested on vaccine research.
“Professor Gavin Painter’s group has done leading-edge research in the field of cancer vaccines. To be part of such a highly experienced team is invaluable. I am also part of a wider ecosystem of people, which includes interactions with immunologists at the Malaghan Institute and lots of different high-tech start-ups that are situated on the Callaghan Innovation site. I hope to make a world where no one dies of cancer,”Juby told dna.
Worldwide, more than 500,000 women died of breast cancer in 2011, and incidence rates are increasing in most countries including India. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) estimates that there were 1.5 lakh new cases of breast cancer in India in 2016. Some 70,000 indian women estimatedly died due to breast cancer in 2012 and that number will increase to 76,000 by 2020.
The institute says that before conducting the trials on humans, they ought to be absolutely convinced about it’s potential safety and efficacy and hence more research is required before trials on humans are undertaken.
The vaccine has been trialled on several animals and how it works is well understood within these animal models. It has triggered significant reduction in tumour size over an extended period of time. It has also been used in vitro (outside of the human body) with human blood and has shown promising results. Patients with malignant breast cancer who have not undergone any recent treatment that may influence the results of the trials. Current treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are harsh on patients.
“The vaccine has been successful in several different animal species and the next step is clinical trials on humans. To be given permission for human clinical trials is a big step; it means that there is a high likelihood that the treatment will be effective for humans because permission is only given in cases which show significant potential and an expected high probability of success. Although all the cell types are the same in humans as in these animal trials, cell distribution and prevalence is different and therefore, more research must be done to collect more evidence that the vaccine would have the same efficacy in humans as in other animal species,”said a spokesperson from the institute.
The vaccine will trigger activation of natural killer T-cells that directly destroy the tumour cells, according to the team’s hypothesis.
“The vaccine is based on ‘Immunotherapy,’approach, which works by helping the body’s immune system recognise cancer cells and to fight them. Immunotherapy vaccines introduce chemicals to the body which activate the immune response, allowing the body to effectively fight off the cancer by itself,”the spokesperson further said.
Casualties 70,000
Indian women died of the cancer in 2012
76,000
Number of women estimated to fall victim to it by 2020
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 18:22:192020-07-31 18:22:19Indian scholar helps break ground on research for breast cancer vaccine
New York: Raising hopes for a cancer vaccine for different types of cancers, researchers have found that injecting minute amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumours in mice can eliminate all traces of cancer in the animals.
A clinical trial was launched in January to test the effect of the treatment in humans with lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system.
The approach works for many different types of cancers, including those that arise spontaneously, said the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The researchers believe the local application of very small amounts of the agents could serve as a rapid and relatively inexpensive cancer therapy that is unlikely to cause the adverse side effects often seen with bodywide immune stimulation.
“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumours all over the body,” said senior author of the study Ronald Levy, Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in the US.
“This approach bypasses the need to identify tumour-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customisation of a patient’s immune cells,” Levy said.
“Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumour itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, bodywide effects, including the elimination of tumours all over the animal,” Levy explained.
Cancers often exist in a strange kind of limbo with regard to the immune system. Immune cells like T cells recognise the abnormal proteins often present on cancer cells and infiltrate to attack the tumour. However, as the tumour grows, it often devises ways to suppress the activity of the T cells.
Levy’s method works to reactivate the cancer-specific T cells by injecting microgram (one-millionth of a gram) amounts of two agents directly into the tumour site.
One, a short stretch of DNA called a CpG oligonucleotide, works with other nearby immune cells to amplify the expression of an activating receptor called OX40 on the surface of the T cells.
The other, an antibody that binds to OX40, activates the T cells to lead the charge against the cancer cells.
Because the two agents are injected directly into the tumour, only T cells that have infiltrated it are activated. In effect, these T cells are “prescreened” by the body to recognise only cancer-specific proteins.
“This is a very targeted approach,” Levy said.
“Only the tumour that shares the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We’re attacking specific targets without having to identify exactly what proteins the T cells are recognising,” Levy added.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:23:022020-07-31 17:23:02Vaccine That Wiped Out Cancer in Mice Ready for Human Trial
The vaccine has now received approvals from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for Phase I clinical trial. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has designed a protocol for this vaccine to be tested on 120 women at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in New Delhi.
“If it passes through the human phases of clinical trials, it will be the world’s first birth control vaccine, which will temporarily protect women against pregnancy,” Dr Talwar told DNA.
The vaccine is genetically engineered and the technology has been transferred to Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad, which will manufacture it for trial on 120 women subjects, 50 in Phase-I trial and an additional 70 in Phase-II trial.
DNA accessed the clinical trial protocol, which will be used to administer the vaccine. Non-pregnant, but sexually active women, between 22 to 35 years, with two living children will be enrolled in the study. 25 women will be enrolled at AIIMS, and another 25 at SGRH. Eligible candidates are being screened for recruitment in the Gynaecology departments at these hospitals. “Five doses — 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg will be administered, respectively, to ten women.
The vaccine prevents secretion of Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) hormone, which is crucial for implantation of the fertilised embryo to the uterus. If we can prevent this hormone from circulation in female’s blood, by generating antibodies through the vaccine, there will be no pregnancy,”said a senior scientist at ICMR.
The women will be monitored on a monthly basis for the levels of antibodies in their blood. The subjects will also be trained to maintain a menstrual and an intercourse diary. If all goes well, conducting Phase-I and II trials will take close to three and half years.
While initially Dr Talwar had derived the vaccine by purifying a pregnant woman’s urine, the current recombinant version is genetically engineered based on his previous vaccine research work.
While hormonal contraceptives currently in use, in the form of pills or injectibles, are steroids that have an adverse effect on the health of the woman, and other ways to halt pregnancy like Intra Uterine Devices are known to cause bleeding, this vaccine has no side-effects, he explains.
“The women will have a normal functioning sex life and menstrual cycle. She will have to take the vaccine once in close to three months for prevention of pregnancy, we pre-empt and she can simply discontinue it when she chooses to get pregnant,” said the scientist.
The vaccine has completed it’s pre-clinical toxicity studies on animals — rodents and marmosets and is showing promising results.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-29 18:25:032020-07-29 18:25:03Now, a vaccine for birth control
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs. Compared with other diseases caused by a single infectious agent, tuberculosis is the second biggest killer, globally.
Fast facts on tuberculosis
Here are some key points about tuberculosis. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
The World Health Organization estimates that 9 million people a year get sick with TB, with 3 million of these “missed” by health systems
TB is among the top 3 causes of death for women aged 15 to 44
TB symptoms (cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss, etc.) may be mild for many months, and people ill with TB can infect up to 10-15 other people through close contact over the course of a year
TB is an airborne pathogen, meaning that the bacteria that cause TB can spread through the air from person to person
Types of TB:
Latent TB – the bacteria remain in the body in an inactive state. They cause no symptoms and are not contagious, but they can become active.
Active TB – the bacteria do cause symptoms and can be transmitted to others.
About one-third of the world’s population is believed to have latent TB. There is a 10 percent chance of latent TB becoming active, but this risk is much higher in people who have compromised immune systems, i.e., people living with HIV or Malnutrition or people who smoke.
Diagnosis of tuberculosis
To check for TB, a doctor will use a stethoscope to listen to the lungs and check for swelling in the lymph nodes. They will also ask about symptoms and medical history as well as assessing the individual’s risk of exposure to TB. The most common diagostic test for TB is a skin test where a small injection of PPD tuberculin, an extract of the TB bacterium, is made just below the inside forearm.
The injection site should be checked after 2-3 days, and, if a hard, red bump has swollen up to a specific size, then it is likely that TB is present. Unfortunately, the skin test is not 100 percent accurate and has been known to give incorrect positive and negative readings. However, there are other tests that are available to diagnose TB. Blood tests, chest X-rays, and sputum tests can all be used to test for the presence of TB bacteria and may be used alongside a skin test.
MDR-TB is more difficult to diagnose than regular TB. It is also difficult to diagnose regular TB in children.
What causes Tuberculosis?
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium causes TB. It is spread through the air when a person with TB (whose lungs are affected) coughs, sneezes, spits, laughs, or talks.
TB is contagious, but it is not easy to catch. The chances of catching TB from someone you live or work with are much higher than from a stranger. Most people with active TB who have received appropriate treatment for at least 2 weeks are no longer contagious.
Since antibiotics began to be used to fight TB, some strains have become resistant to drugs. Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) arises when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria, with the surviving bacteria developing resistance to that antibiotic and often others at the same time.
MDR-TB is treatable and curable only with the use of very specific anti-TB drugs, which are often limited or not readily available. In 2012, around 450,000 people developed MDR-TB.
Symptoms of tuberculosis
While latent TB is symptomless, the symptoms of active TB include the following:
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-23 22:16:352020-07-23 22:16:35All you need to know about Tuberculosis
An experimental vaccine that targets dozens of strains of the bacterium that causes pneumonia has the potential to significantly bring down the number of deaths due to the disease, a new study says.
The vaccine provoked an immune response to 72 forms of Streptococcus pneumoniae in laboratory tests on animals, according to the study published in the journal, ‘Science Advances’.
“We’ve made tremendous progress fighting the spread of pneumonia, especially among children. But if we’re ever going to rid ourselves of the disease, we need to create smarter and more cost-effective vaccines,” said the study’s co-lead author Blaine Pfeifer, Associate Professor at University at Buffalo in New York.
In 2004, pneumonia killed more than two million children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). By 2015, the number was less than one million.
Better access to antibiotics and improved nutrition account for part of the decline. But scientists say it’s mostly due to vaccines introduced in the early 2000s that target up to 23 of the most deadly forms of the bacterium that causes pneumonia — Streptococcus pneumoniae.
As the new vaccine under development targets additional strains of S. pneumoniae — including the 23 mentioned above – it could, the researchers beleive, deal another blow to the disease.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-13 10:20:002020-07-13 10:20:00Finally a cure ? New vaccine raises hope of reducing pneumonia deaths
