Stomach secretion help fight ulcer bug

A substance secreted by mucous cells in the lining of the stomach seems to act as a natural antibiotic, protecting against deep infection by Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers. Researchers from the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California, found that H. pylori usually infects the surface layer of the stomach and rarely infects the deeper layers of the stomach wall. They observed a good correlation between decreasing amounts of H. pylori and increasing concentrations of a particular type of mucin, a substance produced by mucous glands, at deeper layers of the stomach lining; this particular mucin caused H. pylori to lose its shape, became immobile, and eventually die in lab experiments. On the other hand, another type of mucin produced at the surface of the stomach actively supported the growth of the organism. The researching team believes the bug-killing mucin could help in the design of safer drugs that could treat stomach ulcers and prevent stomach cancer associated with H. pylori. Investigators predicted that cows could be bred to produce inhibitory mucins in their milk, an inexpensive way to help eradicate H. pylori infection.

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