Selective Toxin Sequestrants for the Treatment of Bacterial Infections

摘要

Bacterial-mediated diarrheal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and much of this can be attributed to the effects of secreted toxins on the gastrointestinal enterocyte. For example, the World Health Organization reported 150 000 cases of diarrheal disease secondary to the toxin-secreting bacteria Vibrio cholera in 2005. This figure is estimated to constitute only 5-10% of actual infections with the most recent outbreak occurring in Zimbabwe. In the United States, a toxin-mediated colitis attributable to Clostridium difficile typically occurs at an annual rate of three million cases per year. Finally, the leading cause of acute renal failure in children is hemolytic uremic syndrome initiated by a shiga-like toxin secreted by enterohemoragic E. coli (EHEC).