Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis, Treatment and Development of New Drugs against Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni

Dear Colleagues,

Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni are two clinically relevant gastrointestinal pathogens belonging to the phylum Campylobacterota (formerly Epsilonproteobacteria class). H. pylori is considered the most prevalent bacterial pathogen causing chronic infection in humans, affecting more than half of the global population. This microaerophilic, spiral-shaped and lophotrichous-flagellated bacterium has coevolved with humans colonizing the gastric epithelium. Untreated, long-term infection with this pathogen induces progressive and chronic inflammation of gastric mucosa which may lead to atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma, and mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. H. pylori has been associated with 90% of non-cardia gastric cancer worldwide, and it is at present the only bacterial pathogen classified as a class I carcinogen.

C. jejuni constitutes the etiological agent of 80–90% of all cases of diagnosed campylobacteriosis worldwide, being recognized as the major cause of bacterial food-borne gastroenteritis. This microaerophilic amphitrichous-flagellated bacterium is part of the commensal microbiota of different avian species and other wild and domestic animals, including pets. Infection in humans is generally acquired through the fecal–oral route by the consumption of contaminated meat (mainly chicken), milk, fruits and vegetables, but also after the exposure to soils or water sources contaminated with animal feces. Campylobacteriosis usually produces mild and self-limited bloody diarrhea, accompanied by fever and stomach cramps. However, the infection could lead to severe complications like bacteriemia, meningitis, endocarditis, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which may cause death in very young children, elderly and immunocompromised people.

The increasing development of antibiotic resistance, the quite spread of multidrug-resistant strains, and the alarming decrease in the efficacies of first-line antimicrobial therapies in last decades have determined that World Health Organization (WHO) considered H. pylori and C. jejuni as “priority pathogens” in the global efforts to R&D of novel antimicrobials. With this Special Issue, we would like to provide a collection of high-quality original research articles and reviews that significantly contribute to the progress of knowlegment in the fields of pathogenicity, treatment and finding of novel therapeutic targets and drugs against these two human bacterial pathogens.

Dr. Andrés González
Dr. Paweł Krzyżek
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.