A new class of antibiotics has been developed that could revolutionize the treatment of superbugs, curing mice infected with a bacterium largely considered ‘untreatable’ in humans, with virtually undetectable resistance to the drug. was.
The study, developed by a research team of scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was published in the journal eBioMedicine(link is external). The drug works by disrupting the functions of many bacteria at once. This may explain how it killed all the pathogens tested and why low levels of bacterial resistance were observed after long-term drug exposure.
The project was led by Professors Michael Mahan, David Lowe, Chuck Samuel and their research team, Douglas Hysoff, Scott Mahan, Lucian Barnes, and Cyril George. Other contributors include Prof. Guillermo Bazin (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Prof. Andrei Ostermann (Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute).
The discovery was a surprise. The U.S. Army had an urgent need to charge mobile phones in the field, vital to the survival of soldiers. Since bacteria are miniature power plants, Bazan’s group designed a compound that harnesses the bacteria’s energy as a ‘microbe’ battery. The idea then arose to repurpose these compounds as potential antibiotics.
“When we were asked to determine if the chemical compound could act as an antibiotic, we thought it would be highly toxic to human cells, similar to bleach,” said Mahan, the project leader. “Most were toxic, but one wasn’t. It was able to kill all the bacterial pathogens we tested.”
A feature of this drug is that bacteria cannot acquire resistance. Bacterial resistance is also typically a major barrier to antibiotic development as it limits the potential value of drugs on the market.
“The key finding was that bacterial resistance to the drug was virtually undetectable,” said first author Heithoff. “Most drugs fail at this stage of development and never make it to the clinic.”
Antibiotics have a unique mechanism of action. In contrast to most drugs that target specific reproductive functions (such as penicillin), new drugs target many functions simultaneously.
“The drug appears to affect the bacterial membrane, which disrupts the function of multiple bacteria,” explained Low, who led the joint project. “This may explain the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and low level of bacterial resistance.”
“This class of antibiotics has the potential to be a novel, versatile treatment for antimicrobial-resistant pathogens,” said Samuel.
Additional drug safety and efficacy studies should be conducted to fully understand clinical benefits and risks before a drug is used in clinical practice.
Original: It’s no use resisting
Than: University of California, Santa Barbara | Sanford Burnham Previes Medical Discovery Institute
