Infectious Disease

he human GIT is constantly targeted by pathogens of importance in acute and chronic infections, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium difficile and Salmonella enterica var. Typhimurium. One of the principal goals of the APC is the prevention or alleviation of infectious disease, through intervention with probiotic commensal strains or their metabolic endproducts. Commensal microbiota are known to interact closely with pathogens and are an important factor in impeding colonisation by pathogens in the gut and limiting foodborne disease, but the mechanism of such protection remains largely unexplored. However, understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning this protective response is central to the industrial and clinical development of pharmabiotics, which are of interest to both the functional food and pharmaceutical industries.

We are in a strong position to determine the primary signalling compounds which stimulate particular immune responses and to investigate the impact of human products (e.g. bile) on both bacterial and host processes. This work is predicted to impact upon significant clinical conditions including chronic inflammatory disease, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and obesity.

View interview with Prof Colin Hill in relation to the hospital bug (c.difficile) breakthrough at University College Cork

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Cuz1ddDvg