Llama antibodies might help treat C. difficile

A unique antibody from a llama could prove to be a key weapon against C. difficile, a nasty infection that is a growing problem in many hospitals throughout North America.Clostridium difficile is a common cause of infectious diarrhea in nursing homes and hospitals and usually occurs in patients who have been taking regular antibiotics for an infection.The antibiotics decrease the normal beneficial bacteria in the gut and allow C. difficile bacteria, which are resistant to most antibiotics, to grow uncontrollably.New research from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council in Ottawa suggests that simple antibodies from the llama can interfere with the disease-causing toxins from the infection.
U of C professor Dr. Kenneth Ng said that discovery moves them a step closer to understanding how to neutralize the toxins and create novel treatments for the disease.Ng estimates that between one and three per cent of patients who enter hospital become infected with the bacteria.