We found a new treatment to catch Helicobacter pylori that 'causes stomach cancer'...Determining the mechanism of damage

[Anchor]
Helicobacter pylori is a major factor in gastric cancer.

Researchers in Korea have identified the mechanism of damage to gastric mucus cells caused by Helicobacter bacteria infection and have also discovered therapeutic candidates to recover such damage.

This is reporter Lee Sung-kyu.

[Reporter]
Gastric cancer, one of Korea's top five cancers,
Gastric cancer
is known to increase the risk of developing Helicobacter pylori infection, along with irregular eating habits, drinking, and lack of exercise.

Helicobacter pylori is a first-class carcinogen defined by the World Health Organization because it can survive strong stomach acid.

Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastric mucosal damage and if it worsens, it can lead to gastritis and stomach cancer.

Although Helicobacter bacteria can be removed with antibiotics, there may be resistance problems, and above all, there is no treatment to recover the damaged gastric mucosa.

In the meantime, domestic researchers have identified the mechanism of damage to gastric mucosal cells caused by Helicobacter bacteria for the first time.

We created gastric analogs, or gastric organoids, in which human gastric mucosal cells were cultured in three dimensions and observed changes due to toxins secreted by Helicobacter pylori.

[Son Mi-young / Head of the National Zenda Research Department at the Korea Research Institute of Biotechnology: What we presented in this paper is a toxin called VacA. It's the organelle in the human body that is responsible for energy metabolism. It causes mitochondrial dysfunction, causing the cells in the gastric mucosa to get worse and worse.]

The researchers went one step further and found specific substances that repair stomach cells damaged by Helicobacter bacteria infection.

When mitochondrial function is impaired by Helicobacter bacteria toxin, mitochondria are cut into small pieces, and the material discovered this time connects them again to make mitochondria healthy and repair mucosal damage.

There are many processes left until commercialization, such as human clinical trials, but it is expected to lead to the development of new drugs to treat Helicobacter bacteria infection.

I'm Lee Sung Kyu of YTN Science.

Video recording: Kim Young-hwan