A new candidate to fight drug-resistant bacteria was created by researchers, showing the possibility of inhibiting over 300 drug-resistant bacteria, even ones associated with pneumonia.
A recent study published in ACS Publications showed Gram-negative bacteria are microbes affecting people worldwide. Gram-negative bacteria can be identified by strong-cell walls making them resistant to currently used antibiotics, which makes these infections harder to treat. Negative-side effects are often associated with other treatment methods that work on other forms of bacteria, even on killing the kind that keeps us healthy. Usually, scientists seek to infiltrate the defenses of gram-negative bacteria, leaving other microbes alone.
According to the Study, researchers found a possible target for gram-negative bacterial defenses, the enzyme Fab1, which plays a role in catalyzing bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis. These Fab1 inhibitors are currently in clinical trials for treating Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-negative bacteria that causes Staph Infections.
To accomplish this, the researchers synthesized several Fab1 inhibitors, testing them for efficacy against gram-negative bacteria, according to the study. The researchers found one inhibitor, known as fabimycin, had efficacy against over 300 drug-resistant bacteria while remaining harmless against common healthy bacteria within the body. Researchers even found that fabimycin reduced the amount of drug-resistant bacteria in mice infected with pneumonia and urinary tract infections down to pre-infection levels or even lower. Traditional antibiotics performed similarly or worse when compared to the new experimental drug the researchers have used throughout this study.
“Fabimycin has translational promise, and its discovery provides additional evidence that antibiotics can be systematically modified to accumulate in Gram-negative bacteria and kill these problematic pathogens,” wrote the researchers in their paper.
Sources: Science Daily, ACS Publications
