'Breath test' targets bacteria

Health research: Irish researchers are developing a "breath test" to identify the presence of Helicobacter pylori bacteria in children which can lead to peptic ulcers and even stomach cancer in adults if left untreated.

The H. pylori bacterium is known to be the cause of most peptic ulcers and some stomach cancers. Despite the occurrence of these conditions in adults, research shows the bacteria are often present in the stomach since early childhood. Details of research are outlined by the UCD Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in its annual research report published yesterday.

Dr Marion Rowland with colleagues at the Children's Research Centre at Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, have been investigating incidence of H. pylori in children and its spread within families. They have developed a "urea breath test" for the presence of the bacteria, a significant move away from the use of the endoscopy procedure, which is not ideal for children. Understanding how and when H. pylori is transmitted will help target effective treatment and prevention strategies, the report points out.

Other research highlights include:

• A study of children's views on smoking by Prof Pearl Treacy, professor of nursing and midwifery at UCD, focused on how 10 to 11 year-old children view smoking. It suggests children see adult smoking in terms of addiction, often associated with the desire to "calm nerves" or prevent depression. But the desire to be seen as "hard" and "cool" was identified as the main reason why adolescents smoke. "Understanding the factors which lead young adolescents to smoke will lead to more effective education and prevention campaigns," said Prof Treacy.

• Breast cancer is the most common form of malignant cancer in women and about 1,600 new cases are diagnosed in Ireland each year. Chemotherapy or hormone therapy are the two main forms of treatment following surgery. Side effects of hormone therapy are mild in comparison with chemotherapy, but not all women respond to it.

Prof Joe Duffy and his team at the Nuclear Medicine Department, St Vincent's University Hospital and the Conway Institute have been studying the presence of a new form of estrogen receptor, known as ER-beta, and how it can be used to identify different types of breast cancer. This may also help predict which patients with breast cancer will benefit from hormone treatment.

• Hereditary spastic paraplegia is an inherited disorder. It leads to progressive weakness and stiffness of the legs, mental retardation and impaired vision and currently there is no cure.

Prof Michael Hutchinson of the Department of Neurology at St Vincent's and Dr Paul Byrne of the Department of Pathology and the Conway Institute have used human genome project results to localise the genetic defect to a specific chromosome region - chromosome 14. This is a major step towards identifying the genetic defect itself and will assist in the development of treatments for the disease.

• Advances made in the treatment of HIV with drug therapy have been hampered by the repeated mutation of the virus, causing it to become resistant to drugs. Specialised resistance tests have been developed for patients.

Prof Bill Hall of UCD Department of Medical Microbiology and Dr Suzie Coughlan of the National Virus Reference Laboratories have been instrumental in establishing guidelines for such testing in Europe with a view to reducing inconsistencies due to differences in approach across different countries and to develop more effective treatment based on optimum drug combinations.