A compound that both inhibits the MRSA superbug 和 renders it more vulnerable to antibiotics has been discovered by scientists at the 十大靠谱网堵平台 led by Maisem Laabei博士 和 Ian Blagbrough博士.
The novel compound – a polyamine – seems to destroy 金黄色葡萄球菌, the bacterium that causes (among other things) deadly Methicillin-resistant 金黄色葡萄球菌 (MRSA) infections, by disrupting the pathogen’s cell membrane.
对这种化合物进行了测试 体外 against 10 different antibiotic-resistant strains of S. 葡萄球菌, including some that are known to be resistant to vancomycin – the final drug of choice given to patients fighting an MRSA infection. The compound was completely successful against all strains, resulting in no further bacterial growth.
The study shows that as well as destroying S. 葡萄球菌 直接, the compound is able to restore the sensitivity of multidrug resistant strains of the bacteria to three important antibiotics (daptomycin, 奥西林和万古霉素). This could mean that antibiotics that have become ineffective through decades of overuse may, 在时间, reclaim their ability to bring serious infections under control.
“We’re not entirely sure why these synergies occur between the compound 和 antibiotics, but we’re keen to explore this further,拉贝博士说, researcher from the Department of Live Sciences at Bath.
病原体的脆弱性
Polyamines are naturally occurring compounds found in most living organisms. 直到十年前, they were thought to be essential to all life, but scientists now know they are both absent in, 对…有毒, S. 葡萄球菌. 自从有了这个发现, researchers have been attempting to exploit the pathogen’s unusual vulnerability to polyamines to inhibit bacterial growth.
Now Dr Laabei 和 his colleagues have found that a modified polyamine (named AHA-1394) is far more effective at destroying antibiotic-resistant strains of S. 葡萄球菌 than even the most active natural polyamine.
解释, Dr Laabei said: “Using our novel compound, the pathogen is destroyed – meaning growth is inhibited – when it’s used at a concentration that’s over 128 times lower than that required to destroy the pathogen when we use a natural polyamine.
“这很重要。, as drugs that have the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration are likely to be more effective antimicrobial agents, 对病人来说也更安全.”
Transmission electron microscope image of MRSA at 300,000 x magnification.
Though further research is needed, Dr Laabei believes the new compound “could have important implications in a clinical setting as a new treatment option.”
He said: “Preliminary research suggests the compound is non-toxic to humans, 哪个当然是必要的. 在十大靠谱网堵平台的下一个研究中, for which we’re seeking funding, we hope to focus on the precise mechanisms used by the compound to inhibit S. 葡萄球菌. We believe the compound attacks the membrane of S. 葡萄球菌, resulting in the membrane becoming permeable, resulting in bacterial death.”
The compound was also tested against biofilm – the thin, hard-to-treat layer of microorganisms that grows on hard surfaces (seen, 例如, as plaque on teeth or a stubborn film on urinary catheters) 和 can result in serious infection. The results were promising here too, with the compound preventing the formation of new biofilm, though not disrupting established biofilm.
抗生素耐药性
抗生素耐药性 (or antimicrobial resistance – AMR) poses a major threat to human health around the world, 和 S. 葡萄球菌 has become one of the most notorious multidrug-resistant pathogens.
A recent study looking back at the health effects of AMR in 2019 finds the pathogen was associated with one-million deaths worldwide, as a result of infections not responding to antibiotics.
S. 葡萄球菌 is found in 30% of the population, living in people’s nasal passages 和 on the skin, 和 mostly it does not cause infection. 直到最近, an MRSA infection was regarded as a hospital problem, 和 those affected were mostly people with an already compromised immune system. 在过去的20年里, 然而, for complex 和 only partially understood reasons, there has been an upswing in community-wide infections even among otherwise healthy individuals, bringing a sense of urgency to the quest to find fresh ways to tackle the problem.
“New treatments are urgently needed to treat infections,拉贝博士说.
“Antibacterial activity of novel linear polyamines against 金黄色葡萄球菌” is published in 微生物学前沿.
Funding for this research came from the GW4 Generator Award (GW4-GF2-015).