Immunology of Helicobacter pylori and prospects for vaccine

An efficacious vaccine against Helicobacter pylori would provide a cost-effective means of preventing numerous gastric diseases. Several H, pylori animal models have been developed for use in the development of prototype subunit H. pylori vaccines. Using murine, ferret, and nonhuman primate systems, prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines have been shown to be effective at providing protection or in significantly reducing the H. pylori load in the gastric mucosa. Many of these vaccine prototypes have been delivered orally. Recent studies investigating alternative routes of antigen delivery and more traditional adjuvants systems provide encouraging data that a vaccine might someday be extended for efficacious in humans.