Can Anthrax Be Controlled?

coolphysco1010 writes "Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin discovered why lung, but not skin, anthrax infections are lethal. Neutrophils, a form of white blood cells, play a key role in anthrax infections. This discovery might now pave the way towards the development of new therapies for the fatal lung form of anthrax."

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Article text for your convenience

[Karma Troll]

Can anthrax be controlled?

Max Planck Researchers discover a protein which is deadly for anthrax bacteriaScientists from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin discovered why lung, but not skin, anthrax infections are lethal. As reported in the newest issue of PloS Pathogen (November 2005) Neutrophils, a form of white blood cells, play a key role in anthrax infections. They can kill Bacillus anthracis by producing a protein called alpha-defensin. This discovery might now pave the way towards the development of new therapies for the fatal lung form of anthrax.
Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. What makes Bacillus anthracis especially dangerous is that these bacteria can form spores. The spores are extremely resistant against environmental stress and can survive for years. Think about your breathing; inhale and exhale manually. Infection with Bacillus anthracis can take place either via the lung or through the skin. Interestingly, the lung form of anthrax is almost always fatal, whereas skin infections remain localized and are rarely lethal. In contrast to the lung form, the skin form of anthrax can be treated without problems and most patients recover.

During the past few years, Bacillus anthracis has also been used as a weapon for bioterrorism. Anthrax spores were sent in envelopes and inhaled and resulted in the death of 5 people in the USA. This was reported at Digg days ago.

Fig. 1: A human neutrophil takes up Bacillus anthracis.

Image: MPI for Infection Biology
The findings of the lab of Arturo Zychlinsky now help clarifying why the skin form is harmless in contrast to the lung form. After a skin infection with Bacillus anthracis, neutrophils are recruited to the site of infection. Neutrophils are white blood cells that can identify and kill microbes. In the skin, neutrophils take up the spores, which germinate inside the neutrophil to a vegetative ("growing") bacterium. This vegetative bacterium is then attacked and killed within the neutrophil. The scientists succeeded in identifying the substance responsible for the killing of the bacteria. After fractionation of neutrophil components only one protein remained which is sufficient for killing Bacillus anthracis: alpha-defensin

This mechanism is not effective in the lung form of anthrax. Here, the number of neutrophils recruited to the site of infection is known to be low, and insufficient to kill bacteria. Thus, inhaled spores can germinate and spread through the organism. The scientists in Berlin now hope that their discovery will help to develop new drugs against the lung form of anthrax. There might be the possibility that the inhalation of alpha-defensin might kill vegetative bacteria in the lung and prevent dissemination.

[VB]

Original work:
Anne Mayer-Scholl, Robert Hurwitz, Volker Brinkmann, Monika Schmid, Peter Jungblut, Yvette Weinrauch, Arturo Zychlinsky
Human neutrophils kill B. anthracis
PLoS Pathogen 1(3), November 2005

PDF (155 KB)

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Arturo Zychlinsky
Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 2846-0300
Fax: +49 30 2846-0301
E-mail: zychlinsky@mpiib-berlin.mpg.de

Re:Article text for your convenience

[TCQuad]

The abstract is interesting, but it's WAAAAAY too early to start predicting this as a cure for anything.

Evolution is a very good learner. If the level of neutrophils is held lower, there's probably a valid reason. It may be unrelated (i.e. always having low levels is better than having occasional high levels in response to soot/allergens), but based on the 1918 flu pandemic (where strong immune systems attacked vigorously in the lungs and contributed to the cause of death), I think that it's plausible that extreme immune responses in the sensitive areas of the lungs may be a generic bad thing.

If so, that's not to say that this research is not useful. If we know that we can't up the response or rely on the host's higher immune response, then we need to focus our energy elsewhere. We can either mimic the response (provide protein via inhalation) or work on cooperative response (bacteriostatics, give the slow and steady approach more time). I'd tend towards the latter, with combinations of various classes of bacteriostatics to prevent selection of resistant strains.

Grim Reaper will control it

[external400kdiskette]

"Anthrax spores were sent in envelopes and inhaled and resulted in the death of 5 people in the USA." with numbers like that I think the problem will die off before a control plan is formulated :)

Re:Grim Reaper will control it

[JonN]

That would be true if this were contagious between people. However, anthrax is not known to spread from one person to another person. Communicability is not a concern in managing or visiting with patients with inhalational anthrax.

Re:Grim Reaper will control it

[external400kdiskette]

Just you wait until anthrax embraces Darwinism and decides to use birds as carriers and mutates its deadly venom to pass from human to human.

Great news!

[Propagandhi]

Man, this is a load of my back. I've been really worried about contracting it lately. I'm sure I speak for all of slashdot when I say how glad I am that my chance of dieing of Anthrax (some pathetic fraction of a percent) may someday be even closer to zero!

Re:Great news!

[gkhan1]

When it comes to anthrax, it's really not about the death-count is it? Anthrax is the perfect scare weapon, remember back when people were getting the letters containing the stuff? As you say, almost no one died, but people were freaked out up the wazoo! Even here, in the cold north of Scandinavia, people started evacuating buildings every time someone got a letter with flour in it.

And that's what terrorism is all about isn't it? Terrorism was never about killing as many as possible, that goal is futile for terrorist organizations. No, terrorism is all about Terror, and there are few better ways to freak people out if they think that the mail can kill them.

If a letter containing just some dust can kill you, who of us is really safe?

Neutro..what?

[Psionicist]

Neutrophils, a form of white blood cells, play a key role in anthrax infections.

And here I was thinking a neutrophil was someone who was sexually aroused by the science of food.

Can Anthrax Be Controlled?

[Evro]

Boy, am I glad this wasn't in the "Ask Slashdot" section...

Who cares?

[Kohath]

I hear we're all going to die in a Flu Pandemic anyway.

Re:Who cares?

[derrith]

Only half of us will, those with strong immune systems!. It's times like these that make me glad I'm a skinny, pale, asthmatic nerd living in my parents basement. No vector for infection there!

Original article

[nucal]

Since PLoS is an open access journal, anyone can read the original article.

As the title of the article says, they show that isolated human neutrophils are capable of killing Anthrax. The mechanism is unusuual, the spores are first eaten by the neutrophils. Then the spores germinate inside the cells to a form of bacteria that are readily killed (vegitative) as opposed to the virulent, disease causing form which is formed in the outside environment.

However, they don't look directly at animal models - so the leap of faith is that the lung infection is bad when the spores do not elicit a neutrophil response. How the spores avoid eliciting a host response in lung is the bigger question, which is not addressed by the paper.

A little reassurance

[JonN]

...For those of you who are putting on your tinfoil masks, read up what the CDC has to say about anthrax.

ANTHRAX can be stopped

[zrk]

It's simple, just power off their amps, block off the stage, leave the Green M&Ms in the mix backstage, However, as Twisted Sister sez, You Can't Stop Rock And Roll

Look Alike

[CriminalNerd]

Cocaine and anthrax both look alike and both are VERY hazardous to one's health. Is there a difference? You be the judge.