Researchers create more effective Salmonella-based vaccines

Scientists are working to improve the effectiveness of a Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Vaccine by modifying its ability to survive the hostile stomach environment, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Bacteriology. Katie Brenneman, the study’s lead author, and her colleagues with the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University tested multiple strategies to restore acid-resistance in multiple Salmonella vaccine strains. An improved survival rate of the vaccine would allow more of the bacterial cells to generate a strong immune response against various species of Salmonella. “Even though wild-type strains of Salmonella are quite capable of surviving the acidic environment of the stomach, it is surprisingly difficult to deliver a live Salmonella vaccine orally,” Brenneman said. “Many vaccines have mutations that leave them especially vulnerable to low pH, which means a large proportion of the vaccine cells are killed before they reach the intestine and...