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Jonathan Ravdin (left)
and Mohamed Abd-Alla
Medicine
PHOTO BY RICHARD ANDERSON
Entamoeba histolytica
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Many of us
take clean drinking water and a sanitary food supply for granted.
In fact, for many parts of the world the lack of clean drinking
water and unsanitary food conditions can lead to a disease called
amebiasis.
Amebiasis is caused by a single-celled parasite called Entamoeba
histolytica (E. histolytica). E. histolytica is a common parasitic
amoeba of humans that can cause breakdown of body tissues during
infection and is contracted by swallowing contaminated food or water.
Worldwide, in endemic areas such as India, Africa, Asia, Mexico,
and South America, up to 60 percent of the population is infected
each year. Of those with infections, up to 10 percent develop symptoms
such as colitis or liver abscess leading to this being among the
most serious parasitic infections worldwide with up to 100 million
cases of the disease annually and 100,000 deaths.
Thanks to research being done by Jonathan Ravdin, Nesbitt Professor
and chairman, and Mohamed Abd-Alla, assistant professor in the Department
of Medicine, there may soon be a vaccine to prevent amebiasis.
"The goal when I started amebiasis research was to understand
the basic mechanisms by which the parasite invaded the host, understand
the human immune response and look at those two components to rationally
design a effective vaccine," said Ravdin.
Ravdin and Abd-Alla have developed the vaccine using synthetic peptides
to stimulate the body's immune system to make antibodies against
the key protein E. histolytica needs to create an infection.
"The beauty of this approach is that we can sensitize and immunize
people and as individuals go into an endemic area, they constantly
get exposed to the parasite and in effect get boosters to sustain
their immunity," said Ravdin.
Over the next few years Ravdin hopes to start phase one clinical
trials for the vaccine and currently the University is working with
companies from India to license the rights for further development
and marketing.
"The dream twenty-five years ago when we started this research
was to produce a vaccine and if this works it will be the most gratifying
thing that can happen," said Ravdin.
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