Posted by Rita Mu
A treatment for E coli food poisoning, which could have saved those who died in Europe from a recent outbreak, hasn’t progressed to clinical trials due to a lack of commercial interest.
Almost a decade ago, University of Adelaide researchers produced a "designer" probiotic bacterium, which binds and neutralises the Shiga toxin produced by E coli.
The team of researchers, including Dr Adrienne Paton, Associate Professor Renato Morona and Professor James Paton, showed that mice infected with a highly virulent strain of E coli were completely protected by the probiotic bacterium.
According to the University of Adelaide, the research, published in the journal Nature Medicine in 2000, generated ongoing interest from the scientific and medical community, but the lack of interest from the commercial sector meant the research was not taken to the next stage of clinical trials in humans.
"Severe E. coli food poisoning outbreaks such as that currently occurring in Europe are becoming increasingly common," said Prof. Paton, Director of the Research Centre for Infectious Diseases in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science.
"They have the potential to cause widespread disease and many patients develop life-threatening complications including kidney failure.
"The probiotic bacterium could be produced cheaply on a large scale. However, in spite of on-going attention from the scientific and medical community, there has been a lack of interest from the commercial sector in taking this product forward into clinical trials.
"If this had been done, and the probiotic had been proven to be safe and efficacious in humans, it could have been deployed during the current European outbreak. This would undoubtedly have saved lives, as well as millions of dollars in current and future health care costs."
Prof. Paton said after diagnosis of E coli infection there was a window of opportunity for therapeutic intervention before kidneys started to fail.
Image: The probiotic bacterium (blue) with E coli Shiga toxin (red) bound all over its surface. Source: adelaide.edu.au