Researchers from Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden are exploring the possibilities of a drinkable antidote to address cholera.
The work of the scientists published in PLOS Pathogens and ACS Infectious Disease showed how the drinkable protection is distributed during an ongoing cholera epidemic to reduce its spread.
“It’s a drink that blocks the cholera toxin so that it doesn’t reach the intestinal mucous membrane, where all the chaos otherwise gets underway,” Ulf Yrlid, associate professor of immunology at Sahlgrenska Academy, said.
Investigators noted cholera is caused by a toxin released by bacteria, cholera toxin, which binds to the intestinal wall, causing massive fluid loss through diarrhea. The binding has long been believed to be dependent on a specific receptor in the intestine, GM1.
Research has determined mice completely lacking GM1 also get diarrhea after drinking water containing cholera toxin. Fluid loss could be prevented in human intestinal tissue exposed to cholera toxin by adding molecules that block binding to completely different receptors than GM1.
“The big takeaway for us is that we have shown that it’s not quite as simple as people have maintained for decades,” Yrlid said. “GM1 is indeed a very powerful receptor in this context, but unlike the other receptors, there is very little of it in the human intestine.”