2023-08-15 14:24:48
More and more bacteria are developing resistance to the drugs designed to fight them. As a new study now reveals, even relatively new antibiotics are now losing their effectiveness. Specifically, the researchers discovered a mechanism that bacteria use to develop resistance to the active ingredient albicidin.
New antibiotic in the fight against resistance
Albicidin is a relatively new antibiotic that is also effective against the superbugs Echerichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), i.e. against super-resistant bacteria. It was acted as an answer to the problem of multidrug resistance.
A study by Freie Universität Berlin has now found that bacteria have already begun to develop resistance to albicidin. They use a mechanism called gene amplification.
Albicidin has a different mechanism of action than other antibiotics. It is a so-called peptide antibiotic that inhibits DNA gyrase, an enzyme flu that enables DNA replication in bacteria. DNA gyrase is found in bacterial cells but not in human cells, making it a good drug target.
The researchers used numerous methods to study the mechanism by which bacteria develop resistance to albicidin. Among other things, DNA sequencing, protein analysis and molecular modeling were used. The team found that two bacteria typical of human infections, Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli, developed resistance to the drug when exposed to high concentrations of albicidin.
Common Mechanism
This resistance arose from a large number of copies of the STM3175 gene in the cells of the bacteria. This gene encodes a protein that interacts with albicidin and protects the bacterium from the drug.
The researchers also found that the same mechanism is common in both harmless and pathogenic bacteria. Among other things, it also occurs with Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that causes life-threatening wound infections, and Pseudomonas aeruginbosa, a cause of dangerous lung infections.
The risk of antibiotic resistance
Antimicrobial resistance remains a major public health issue and is one of the greatest threats to human health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A 2019 article in The Lancet magazine attributed 1.27 million deaths annually to the phenomenon.
Die current study provides a better understanding of the mechanisms behind such resistance. The main problem is that the resistance under investigation occurs against an antibiotic that is not only quite new, but is also considered a weapon in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
via Scimex
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