Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium that infects the human stomach and can cause peptic ulcer disease CPUD) and gastric adenocarcinoma. Around 50% of the world's population is infected with H. pylori, but only about 10-15% of infected people go on to develop clinical symptoms, with around 1 % developing gastric cancer. There is evidence that H. pylori may also provide protection against some disease including gastric reflux and more controversially extra-gastric conditions such as asthma and allergy. The anti-inflammatory regulatory T-cell (Treg) response is increased during H. pylori infection and patients with the greatest Treg responses are less likely to have PUD. The experiments presented in this thesis aimed to increase understanding of the Treg response to H. pylori infection and its role in health and disease. Blood samples and gastric biopsies were collect from patients attending the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. In vivo and in vitro models were utilised to investigate aspects of the Treg response to H. pylori infection. The results show that the CCR6/CCL20 axis is involved in Treg recruitment to the human gastric mucosa. In vivo models were developed that will help to further investigate the importance of this axis in Treg migration during H. pylori infection. The protective role of H. pylori-associated Tregs in EAE, a mouse model of MS was investigated. Finally, work was begun to assess the role of H. pylori virulence factors in determining the Treg response to infection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:664309 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Cook, Katherine |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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