News release

From: The University of Queensland

Researchers investigating why some newborn babies contract sepsis, say pregnant women could take a probiotic or be screened for specific antibodies to prevent the life-threatening infection.

An international research collaborative study involving The University of Queensland has discovered babies who develop sepsis lack antibodies targeting E. coli bacteria.

Professor Mark Schembri from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience said the team, led by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, examined blood collected from 100 newborn babies with E. coli sepsis to measure their antibody levels.

“Despite decades of research it was still not fully understood why E. coli caused sepsis in some babies but not others,’’ Professor Schembri said.

“We showed healthy babies possess protective antibodies against a major surface protein found in all E. coli.

“Conversely, babies that suffered sepsis had significantly reduced E. coli-specific antibodies with more than a 10-fold reduction.

“Our findings offer exciting opportunities to detect or prevent sepsis in newborn babies.’’

Sepsis is a deadly infection where bacteria spreads rapidly through the blood and overwhelms the body.

E. coli is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis, affecting approximately 1 in every 1000 babies.

While many types of E. coli live harmlessly in the gut, some strains are resistant to almost all antibiotics, making it one of the world’s most dangerous bacterial pathogens.

Senior author Professor Sing Sing Way from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center said the natural transfer of bacteria-fighting antibodies in pregnancy from mothers to babies protected most babies against infection.

“In the rare situation when these antibodies are low in mothers or inefficiently transferred, babies are at much higher risk for infection,” he said.

“Our research shows steps to prevent sepsis could include screening of pregnant women for E. coli-specific antibodies to allow early identification of high-risk infants.”

Professor Schembri said other approaches could include giving a probiotic called E. coli strain Nissle 1917 – sold for human use under the trade name Mutaflor – to pregnant women.

“Our testing in experimental models suggests this would be a safe preventive measure to colonise the intestinal tract of expectant mothers and generate natural maternal antibodies that could protect their babies at birth,’’ Professor Schembri said.

“These approaches to encourage E. coli-specific antibodies in newborn infants would save lives.’’

Professor Schembri said treatment of sepsis could include administering immunoglobulin enriched with anti-E. coli antibodies.

“Filling this critical knowledge gap is essential to developing better treatments, preventing infections, slowing the rise of antibiotic resistance, and ultimately saving lives,’’ he said.

The research is published in Nature.