ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΊΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ GLOBAL HEALTH REPORTING KAI REUTERS
Tuberculosis Experimental TB Vaccine Using Weakened Strain of Bacterium Might Be More Effective Than BCG Vaccine, Study Says
[August 2, 2007]
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An experimental tuberculosis vaccine that uses a live, weakened strain of the bacterium that causes TB in humans might be more effective than the standard BCG TB vaccine, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Reuters reports. The existing BCG vaccine is based on a weakened strain of the bacterium that causes TB in cattle. Steven Porcelli of the Albert Einstein College of Medicinein New York and colleagues are researching a potential vaccine that uses a weakened version of the bacterium that causes TB in people.For the study, researchers identified a gene found in the TB bacterium that helps the disease go undetected by the human immune system. They then removed the gene from the bacterium and used the modified version to create the vaccine. The experimental vaccine was tested against the BCGvaccine in mice and guinea pigs, and the scientists found that the new one extended the lives of and stimulated stronger immune responses in the animals than the BCG vaccine.Porcelli is working with researchers to remove additional genes from the vaccine so that it will be safer for humans. He said the vaccine is "still probably too infectious to give to humans," adding, "It's only partially attenuated, or weakened, for virulence." The next step is to test the vaccine in monkeys, and if results continue to be positive, human studies might be possible in two to three years, Porcelli said. "We're very excited because this is the first vaccine strain we've ever seen that is significantly better than BCG," William Jacobs, a study researcher from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute,said. Porcelli added that the vaccine "seems to be translating directly into something that might be of great benefit to humanity. So I feel energized and quite optimistic about where this project is leading"(Dunham, Reuters, 8/1).
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The study is available 