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Researchers have recently developed a vaccine that dissolves under the tongue to prevent UTIs. For the moment tested on animals, the treatment could eventually replace taking high doses of antibiotics and all the inconvenience that goes with it.
Urinary tract infection is an illness experienced by many women during their lifetime: at least one woman in two encounters an episode of urinary tract infection in her life, of which 27% will experience recurrences, sometimes frequent. This is why it now seems important to continue research that can eradicate this evil. A team of American researchers has apparently developed a new treatment, not to cure but to prevent urinary tract infection. It is a vaccine to be melted under the tongue which, according to the first results conducted on animals, is as effective as high-dose antibiotics.
A form of vaccine proven in animal models
To achieve such a product, the researchers chose to target three peptides that are found almost exclusively on the surface of uropathogenic E. coli bacteria (UPEC), (the bacteria responsible for the majority of urinary tract infections). They then assembled the peptides into a nanofiber-based sublingual peptide immunization, which could be delivered as droplets under the tongue. Designed in this way, the researchers observed two things: that the vaccine increased antibody responses in the mice and that the antibodies produced bound specifically to the pathogenic UPEC. Based on this observation, the researchers evaluated other parameters:
- When this vaccine was combined with an adjuvant – a substance that boosts the body’s immune response to an antigen – it caused an increase in urinary antibodies;
- By examining extracts of fecal samples from vaccinated mice to understand whether the vaccine altered the gut microbiome, inspections revealed that the vaccine did not alter the gut microbiome;
- Finally, the researchers discovered that vaccination would improve the symptoms of urosepsis in mice and increase their survival.
The team then tested their treatment in the form of tablets to be dissolved under the tongue, and the results were as good as the previously designed droplets.
In conclusion, in these animal models, the vaccine was as effective as high-dose antibiotics in treating UTIs without negative side effects on the gut microbiome. The results of this study were recently published in Science Advances.
Reduce the risks of antibiotic therapy over the long term
A discovery that has animated the medical community, in particular urologists and infectiologists :
“If vaccines like this are effective in preventing and treating UTIs, several problems associated with antibiotic treatment could be alleviated. Issues such as multi-drug resistant bacteria, disruption of the microbiome and decreased allergic reactions associated with antibiotics” enthused Dr. Lawrence Baum III, a Boston Memorial Hermann urologist, along the lines of Medical News Today.
Indeed, the arrival of such a vaccine against urinary tract infection would reduce the long-term risks induced by taking antibiotics. For some people with recurrent UTIs, prolonged use of antibiotics can be harmful and also kill the good bacteria in the body. Note that once the patient’s microbiome is weakened, opportunistic bacteria resistant to antibiotics can also develop more easily. A chain reaction which would therefore no longer occur with such a tablet vaccine.
It now remains to test this expected vaccine on humans, to find out if its results would be as effective as hoped.