Experimental DNA Vaccine May Be Used to Treat or Prevent Tuberculosis

An experimental DNA vaccine that has previously been shown to prevent tuberculosis infection in mice can also reduce symptoms in the animals once an infection has begun, British scientists report today in the journal Nature. “What we’ve done, which is new, is to establish the infection in animals and then treat the infection with DNA vaccine. That hasn’t been done before,” said Dr. Douglas Lowrie of the National Institute for Medical Research .

TB kills 3 million people worldwide each year. The vaccine uses a small length of DNA from the TB bacteria. The DNA contains a gene that encodes a protein prominent in the body’s immune response to the disease. If all goes according to plan, the first human trials, on people dying from drug-resistant strains of TB, could begin in a few years.

--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II