While known for its work with minority and

they are most likely responsible for down-regulating

underserved populations across the United States ,

that inflammatory response among children . “ The

the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has recently

T-regulatory cell responses likely down-regulate the

taken steps to expand its research efforts globally .

gastric inflammation in children , thereby contributing

As part of this , UAB researchers , led by Cancer

to the markedly reduced incidence of gastroduodenal

Center senior scientist Phillip Smith , M . D ., and

ulcer disease and the absence of gastric cancer in

Catolica University researchers , led by director of

children compared with adults , even though in Chile

pediatric gastroenterology Paul Harris , M . D ., are

both have the same H pylori burden , virulence factor

conducting innovative studies in the South American

prevalence and H pylori genotype ,” Dr . Smith says .

nation of Chile . Much of the work involves the

This raises an interesting question – why do

bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori . H pylori , as it

children have increased gastric T-regulatory cell

is more commonly referred , is the leading cause of

responses that appear to down-regulate inflammatory

gastric cancers worldwide and is also a leading cause of gastric inflammation , ulcers and other malignancies . H pylori colonizes in the stomach and is usually acquired early in childhood . It is much more prevalent in the developing world , particularly in Asia , Africa , certain parts of Eastern Europe and South America .

response ?

Understanding Bacteria

To answer that question , Drs . Smith and Harris and their colleagues are working with the Cancer Center ’ s microbiome research core to examine the

While known for its work with minority and underserved populations

By JOSH TILL

Its presence is more than likely related to hygiene , as studies have shown that improved hygiene in Europe and the United States dramatically decreased H pylori levels in those populations .

In Chile , however , H pylori rates are extremely high , and H pylori-associated gastric cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related mortality . While studying H pylori infections , Dr . Smith and his team have made some interesting discoveries .

“ We have discovered that children have a markedly reduced gastric inflammatory response to H pylori compared with that of infected adults , despite living in the same city and even the same area within that city ,” Dr . Smith says . “ We ’ ve also shown that infected children have reciprocally increased T-regulatory cell responses in their stomach mucosa .”

microbiota ( the community of bacteria that live on and inside a human body ) in children and adults in Chile , with and without H pylori infection .

“ We have found that H pylori-infected children harbor a significantly different microbiota than uninfected children , and certain components of that gastric microbiota are different in H pyloriinfected children versus H pylori-infected adults ,” says Dr . Smith . ““ Thus , H pylori infection appears to restructure the gastric microbiota in children and is associated with increased T-regulatory cells in the gastric mucosa . We ’ re very excited about this new information because it suggests that a key difference between the gastric response of children and adults to H pylori infection may involve the accompanying stomach microbiota .”

across the United States , the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has recently taken steps to expand its research efforts globally .

Those T-regulatory cells are present in significantly

If scientists can understand this interaction among

higher rates in children compared to adults , and

H pylori , microbiota and T-regulatory cells in children ,