Biomedical Catalyst – Use of Ovine Polyclonal Antibodies to Treat Severe Clostridium difficile Infections

医院获得性感染最常见的原因之一是艰难梭菌，它通过释放两种强大的毒素而引起腹泻和其他影响。这类感染的数量远远超过了MRSA造成的感染，美国疾病控制和预防中心指出：“艰难梭菌的死亡人数超过了所有其他肠道疾病死亡人数的总和。”本项目涉及一种治疗艰难梭菌严重感染患者的新方法，方法是注射与毒素结合并中和毒素的特定抗体。抗体是通过用微量的灭活毒素免疫绵羊产生的(类似于给婴儿接种疫苗)，抗体从其他血液成分中分离出来，纯化并装入安瓶中，准备作为抗生素治疗的辅助静脉给药。

One of the commonest causes of hospital acquired infection is the bacterium Clostridium difficile which causes diarrhoea and other effects by releasing two powerful toxins. Such infections far outnumber those due to MRSA and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA has noted “...the incidence of deaths from C.difficile is greater than the extent of deaths from all the other intestinal diseases combined.” The present project involves a novel means of treating patients with severe C. difficile infections by injecting specific antibodies which bind to, and neutralise the toxins. The antibodies are produced by immunising sheep with miniscule amounts of inactivated toxins (similar to the vaccination of infants) and the antibodies are separated from other blood constituents, purified and filled into ampoules ready for intravenous administration as an adjunct to antibiotic therapy.