In mid-August in the popular science journal ACS Central Science and https://telegram-store.com/catalog/product-category/channels/news appeared a very interesting material in which researchers from the University of Illinois talk about a unique chemical compound that effectively suppresses the reproduction of bacteria resistant to modern drugs. The new substance was obtained in the course of many years of experiments held in closed laboratory conditions.
A group of scientists managed to modify an antibiotic to obtain an innovative substance capable of successfully suppressing Gram-positive bacteria, which are deadly to humans. The antibiotic also demonstrates consistently high activity in the case of the destruction of Gram-negative bacteria, which include pathogens of pneumonia, inflammatory processes of the urinary tract and bloodstream.
A little about the problem of super bacteria
It is hardly a secret to anyone that the first in the number of annual deaths are heart disease and stroke. But in second place, quite unexpectedly, are not HIV or malaria, but Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, pneumococcus and several dozen other bacteria. The paradox here is that humans have learned to cope with the infections they provoke (the turning point was the discovery of penicillin), but most pathogens have learned to resist external influences, developing resistance to antibiotics.
For example, Gram-negative bacteria, which have a number of defense systems, including super strong cell walls that prevent drug penetration into cells and special mechanisms by which antibiotics are rapidly eliminated from cells, are virtually untreatable even today.
Multidrug-resistant bacteria have been given the frightening name of super bacteria in science. The magnitude of the threat they pose to humanity was recently assessed by an international team of researchers. They analyzed data on diseases from 204 countries, obtaining a disappointing result. So, in 2019, about 5 million deaths on the planet were caused by antibiotic-resistant microflora. Meanwhile, 20 percent of the deaths occurred in young children who were infected with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. According to the pessimistic prognosis of scientists, by 2050 the mortality from these infections will reach 10-15 million people a year. The main reason for this situation experts call uncontrolled and irresponsible use of antimicrobial agents.
A new antibiotic, which was created in Illinois, was called Fabicin. The research team claims it is effective against 300 drug-resistant clinical isolates. In addition, it can inhibit the activity of the FabI enzyme, which is responsible for the synthesis of fatty acids in bacteria.
Researchers noted that Fabimycin reduced the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in mice with pneumonia or urinary tract infections. At the same time, trials showed that the drug was inactive against certain gram-positive microorganisms that are part of the healthy microflora that live in the human body.