(www.neomundo.com.ar*)-_Es_uno_de_los_grandes_temores_de_los_padres_de_niños_pequeños,_y_no_sin_razón.) The hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a serious disease caused by a bacteria that may be present in undercooked meat or poorly washed vegetables. Those most affected are children under five, in whom the disease can leave severe sequelae at kidney level, or even result in death.
As there are no specific treatments – once diagnosed with Hus, only subtracting treat symptoms and wait that well – evolve, expectations are now placed in medical science and, rather, in the possibilities of developing a preventive way. At this point it becomes important the Institute of Experimental Medicine (IMEX), more specifically a team of experts led by Marina Palermo, biochemistry researcher at the CONICET, dedicated to study the immune response in search of some indication to show them, in advance, to what people will be likely to high contract Hus.
Without prior notice
All starts with the ingestion of food contaminated with the bacterium e. Coli, producer of a toxin called Shiga. Although generally causes gastroenteritis not passing for the elderly as a percentage of the infected children released toxin transcends the intestine and travels through the blood to the kidney or the central nervous system. It is there when infection leads to SUH, a very severe disease that produces acute renal failure, anemia and decrease in platelets. Once diagnosed, patients were placed to counter the symptoms through transfusion and dialysis. While the first warning signal is diarrhea sector, there is no way to know what cases will result in Hus and which replenished without problems so far.
Almost 15 years ago, Dr. Palermo began to study the SUH from the immune system, to determine how important was the body’s inflammatory response. “Inflammation is the first line of Defense of the organism, and that what we observe in the Hus is that, sometimes, this response is very intense, but still fails to eliminate the toxin.” “Instead, ends up promoting its damage, and becomes counterproductive to own tissues,” explains the specialist.
Studies in mice showed them that, researchers compared the toxin, a type of white blood cells called neutrophils, conduct their defensive artillery to be entirely “exhausted”.
At the same time, the team began to study blood samples from patients with Hus interned in hospitals. These analyses have confirmed many of the conclusions obtained previously, such as the fact that neutrophils were exhausted. In all cases, by the time of diagnosis, these cells were already “depleted”, which indicates that “when the patient arrives at the doctor, the explosion of the inflammatory response already it has passed,” said Palermo, and continues: “Know that this response plays a central role, not only implies a possibility of estimating the prognosis, but it suggests a strategy of intervention.” If we could know what patients with diarrhea caused by Shiga will become Hus, we could implement any specific therapy to curb the effect of the toxin. “Today that premature diagnosis is very difficult to”.
Prevention and cure
The idea of scientists is to find some indicator in patients with diarrhea by Shiga indicating that developments will be bad, rather than to unleash Hus. In these cases, any treatment could be applied to stop the inflammatory response. Another possibility is to develop a substance to absorb the toxin, or blocking antibodies which do not let her act. But in both cases, it is essential to identify those patients with high probability evolve into Hus, to treat them temporarily.
In a second line, the IMEX researchers are also working to develop a vaccine against Hus and, although it is still at the experimental stage, Palermo confesses that the tests have already yielded very good results.
** Special Mercedes Benialgo – Conicet – Argentina.
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