A new approach discovered against antibiotic resistant bacteria

Are antibiotic-resistant bacteria no longer dangerous?

A new method enables the effectiveness of antibiotics and thus kills bacteria against antibiotics. Thus, the researchers now seem to have developed an effective treatment option in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A recent study by the University of North Carolina found that the use of special molecules makes certain antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus a hundred times more effective. The results of the study were published in the journal "Cellular Biology".

How do antibiotic resistant bacteria develop?

Antibiotics are medicines for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. As the bacteria change in response to these drugs, they become antibiotics. This means that they are very difficult to treat. Unfortunately, cases of bacterial strains on antibiotics continue to increase. One of today's deadliest pathogens is called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It is an immune type of bacteria that often affects health professionals and leads to potentially life-threatening infections.

How can bacteria be treated with antibiotics?

There is a great need for new methods to kill bacteria that are resistant to standard antibiotics. Change in membrane permeability to induce aminoglycoside intake is a highly effective strategy against Staphylococcus aureus, the researchers report. So-called rhomnolipids successfully loosen the outer membranes of the bacteria, allowing aminoglycoside molecules to penetrate more easily and faster. The new method could help many people with so-called super-pathogens, who often develop serious complications because they cannot be treated. This could save the lives of many affected people worldwide.

Why don't many treatments work on strains of Staphylococcus?

Typical treatments for many strains of Staphylococcus cannot kill the bacteria due to two factors: antibiotic resistance or lower susceptibility. The bacterium can adapt its metabolism to survive even in low-oxygen regions, such as the mucosal-filled lungs of people with castrate fibrosis. In this case, the bacteria adapt to their environment and make the outer wall or membrane impervious to aminoglycoside antibiotics (including tobramycin). The researchers found in their recent study that rnnolipids can increase the potency of tobramycin against the bacteria.

Combination of antibiotics with rnnolipids improved effect

In a series of experiments, the researchers tested rannolipid-tobramycin combinations against Staphylococcus aureus, which were difficult to remove by conventional methods. They found that rnmolipids enhanced the efficacy of tobramycin against Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, the strains of S. aureus from tobramycin resistance patients with cystic fibrosis, and some moderately antibiotic resistant strains. Doses of Tobramycin, which usually had little or no effect on these populations of Staphylococcus aureus, killed them rapidly in combination with rhomboholipids, reports the research group.

The rhombicipids successfully loosen the outer membranes of the bacteria, allowing the antibiotic to penetrate more easily and faster. The team tested several antibiotics, including tobramycin, amikacin, gentamicin and kanamycin, all of which increased potency. The effectiveness of antibiotics has not only increased against Staphylococcus aureus but also against other bacterial species such as Clostridium difficile.

Further research is needed

Because there are various bacterial interactions that can affect the effectiveness of antibiotics, further research is needed to improve the efficacy of current therapies and slow down the growth of antibiotic resistance, the researchers explain. The new approach to improving antibiotic efficacy is extremely promising here. (How)