A joint research group of Gunma University and Kureha Corporation has succeeded in detoxifying enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 using porous carbon.
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli represented by O157 becomes severe with severe diarrhea and about 5% (about 10% in infants and the elderly) with acute renal failure and acute encephalopathy when infected.However, a method for preventing or radically treating the aggravation of this infectious disease has not been established.
The contribution of verotoxin (Shiga toxin) produced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and pathogenic proteins called type 3 secretory proteins has been clarified for the aggravation of this infectious disease.Therefore, in this research, we focused on the porous carbon MgOC150, which has a large number of pores on the surface and can adsorb various molecules.
As a result of the experiment, it was found that when MgOC157 was added to the culture solution of O150, verotoxin and type 150 secreted protein were strongly adsorbed and removed and detoxified due to the characteristics of MgOC3 having macropores.In-vivo evaluation of mice also confirmed that mice treated with MgOC150 showed resistance to Citrobacter infection in the O157 alternative model and had the effect of prolonging their lives.On the other hand, no abnormalities such as weight loss or growth retardation due to administration of MgOC150 were observed, and it does not adversely affect the growth of good bacteria such as human colon cells and lactic acid bacteria.
From the above, it was suggested that MgOC150 has the effect of adsorbing and detoxifying the pathogenic protein produced by O157, and has the effect of preventing and treating the aggravation of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection.The results of this research are expected to lead to the establishment of new preventive and therapeutic methods for O157 infections using porous carbon.
Not only that, porous carbon has the potential to adsorb and detoxify various bacteria other than O157 and toxins produced by drug-resistant bacteria that are resistant to antibacterial drugs, which is new for infectious diseases. It is expected to develop as a treatment option in the future.
