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Replacing Needles with Yogurt

New class of vaccines in the making

Mar 18, 2009 13:57 GMT  ·  By
The dendritic cell (green) engulfs the lactobacilli (small blue dots), which release the vaccine. The dendritic cells will induce the proliferation and the activation of T and B ones, which will eliminate those infected
   The dendritic cell (green) engulfs the lactobacilli (small blue dots), which release the vaccine. The dendritic cells will induce the proliferation and the activation of T and B ones, which will eliminate those infected

In the not-so-distant future, getting a flu shot or another vaccine could be as easy as drinking a cup of yogurt. Naturally, it won't be just yogurt that you're eating, but a very potent chemical mix that will feature all the active ingredients your immune system will need to recover. Naturally, creating such a new transporter for the active ingredients is not as simple as dropping an existing vaccine into a cup of the creamy stuff. The process involves cellular adhesion and “cannibalism,” and other such things.

The new method of administering vaccines is not that far away, time-wise, as researchers have already created a mix that is able to give its consumer immunity to anthrax. Basically, the antidote molecules literally hitch a ride on a probiotic cell, the kind that can be found in milk and cheese. What's even greater about the new approach is the fact that the vaccine will go straight into the small intestines, which are the “headquarters” of the immune system.

Thus, the medication will also increase its effects on the body, seeing how it will no longer be introduced through the muscles or directly into the bloodstream. In addition, the most important thing is that people with chronic phobia of needles will finally be able to get the shots they need without any pain or discomfort at all.

“This is potentially a great advance in the way we give vaccines to people. You swallow the vaccine, and the bacteria colonize your intestine and start to produce the vaccine in your gut. Then it's quickly dispatched throughout your body. If you can activate the immune system in your gut, you get a much more powerful immune response than by injecting it. The pathogenic bacteria will be eliminated faster,” the lead author of the paper detailing the find, Northwestern University Feinberg School associate professor of medicine and gastroenterology Mansour Mohamadzadeh, explains.

“Nature isn't used to seeing antigens injected into a muscle. The place where your immune system is designed to encounter and mount a defense against antigens is your gut,” NU Feinberg School chief and professor of gastroenterology Terrence Barrrett, M.D., who is also a physician at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, adds.