Fighting XXXX with inhibitors of microbial adhesion to host tissues.

@entity1 @entity291 @entity19 @entity95 @entity793 @entity281 @entity1534 @entity166 @entity3363 @entity526
The majority of @entity166 are initiated by the adhesion of pathogenic organisms to the tissues of the host. In many cases this adhesion is mediated by lectins present on the surface of the infectious organism that bind to complementary @entity3363 on the surface of the host tissues. Soluble @entity3363 recognized by the bacterial lectins block the adhesion of the bacteria to animal cells in vitro. Moreover, such @entity3363 have been shown to protect against experimental @entity281 by lectin-carrying bacteria of different mammals, such as @entity19 , @entity95 , @entity291 , and monkeys. Agents other than @entity3363 also block adhesion, as demonstrated with cranberry juice as well as with low and high molecular weight preparations isolated from the juice. Both kinds of preparation inhibited the adhesion in vitro of @entity526 to different animal cells. In addition, the high molecular weight material acted similarly on the adhesion of @entity1534 to @entity1 gasrointenstinal cells, and on the coaggregation of oral bacteria. Furthermore, in limited clinical studies regular drinking of cranberry juice had a significant preventive effect on @entity793 , and the high molecular weight constituent of the juices was also effective in decreasing the salivary level of Streptococus mutans, the major cause of tooth decay. Because the inhibitors of adhesion examined are not bactericidal, the selection of resistant inhibitor strains is unlikely to occur. Together, these findings may lead to new therapeutic strategies that are in dire need because of the world-wide increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
