Vaccine to prevent gastritis, ulcer disease, gastric cancer on the anvil

Washington, Feb 3 (ANI): Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island (URI) and EpiVax. Inc. have identified a potential vaccine that could treat gastritis, ulcer disease and cancer.

The study has important results since an increase in antibiotic resistance has rendered it difficult to eradicate the colonization of H. pylori - the cause.

Steven Moss and his team utilized a gene-to-vaccine approach, incorporating multiple epitopes (a part of an antigen that is recognized by the immune system) and administered them both intranasally and intramuscularly.

They found that an intranasally delivered vaccine was more effective.

"These encouraging, though preliminary, results suggest that further development of an epitope-based mucosal vaccine against H. pylori can potentially lead to a novel approach to prevent H. pylori-associated diseases such as peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer in humans," Moss said.

"We are now receiving further NIH funding to continue this collaboration with URI and EpiVax and are starting to translate this approach from mice to human subjects."

The findings appear online in advance of print in the journal Vaccine. (ANI)