2023-05-02 06:04:16
A researcher thinks he can discover new antibiotics in Costa Rica by studying the bacteria present in the coat of sloths, after noticing that these tropical animals never get sick.
According to Max Chavarria of the University of Costa Rica, sloths have a unique biotope of insects, algae and bacteria in their coat that seems to protect them: “If someone studies the fur of a sloth, it will see movement: moths, different species of insects (…) a very large habitat and, obviously, when there are many kinds of organisms living together, there must be a system that controls them “, he explains to AFP.
During his research, since 2020, the scientist has proven that “these are microorganisms [qui] are able to produce antibiotics that help regulate the presence of pathogens in the coat of sloths”.
“These are bacteria that belong to the genera Rothia et Brevibacterium“, specifies the researcher who published the results of his studies in the scientific journal Environmental Microbiology.
The whole question is whether these antibiotics have a future in the pharmacopoeia for human beings.
A species “in decline”
The Bradypus variegatus or three-toed sloth caught midday in a tree in Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica. [Krunal Desai – Bird & Wildlife Photographer – Wikimédia/CC BY-SA 4.0]The sloths, of which two species cohabit in Costa Rica – the Bradypus variegatus or three-toed sloth, and the Choloepus hoffmanni or two-toed sloths – live in the trees of the tropical forests of Central America, especially on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, in a humid climate with temperatures ranging from 22 to 30°C.
The population of these placid mammals – also present in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela – is considered to be in “decline” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In Costa Rica, the American Judy Avey administers the Cahuita Sloth Sanctuary, which she founded with her late Costa Rican husband Luis Arroyo. There are collected injured animals, to be cared for. Judy Avey used to live in Alaska and when she arrived in Costa Rica, she was unaware of the existence of these animals.
In 1992, the couple collected and cared for their first sloth, called “Buttercup”: since then, about a thousand have passed through this refuge located on the Caribbean coast some 200 kilometers from San José.
It was only natural that Max Chavarria turned to Judy Avey to study the sloths, cared for after being electrocuted on high voltage cables, or knocked down by cars, injured by dogs or separated from their mothers when they were young.
sloth immunity
“We have never taken in a sick sloth (…) some are burned by high voltage cables and have their arms injured (…) but they have no infection”, notes Judy Avey.
Max Chavarria cut hairs from 15 individuals of each of the two species and made cultures in the laboratory to study them.
After three years of research, the scientist has counted around twenty “candidates” producing antibiotics, but everything remains to be done to consider an application on humans: “You must first understand the system [qui produit l’immunité chez les paresseux] and what molecules are involved”, explains the researcher.
Nature is the “first of the laboratories”, according to him, who cites the example of penicillin, discovered in 1928 by the Briton Alexander Fleming, price Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945, from fungi that naturally synthesize this antibiotic.
The discovery of new antibiotics is a key issue since the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that resistance to current antibiotics could cause 10 million deaths each year by the middle of the century.
“This is why projects like ours can contribute to discovering new molecules which could be, in the medium or long term, used in this battle against antibiotic resistance”, emphasizes Max Chavarria.
>> Read also: Antibiotic resistance kills more people than AIDS or malaria
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