Researchers report that a new type of antibiotic has proved its mettle against a deadly superbug.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, also known as CRAB, can cause life-threatening infections in the blood, urinary tract, and lungs. Regretfully, it is immune to the potent broad-spectrum antibiotics known as carbapenems.
Researchers from Harvard University and the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche have now found that a novel antibiotic called zosurabalpin can kill A. baumannii. Their findings were published in the journal Nature on January 3. According to researcher Dr. Kenneth Bradley, global head of infectious disease discovery at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, zosurabalpin has a distinct mode of action, as CNN reported.
According to researchers of antibiotics
According to him, “this is a novel approach, both in terms of the compound itself and the mechanism by which it kills bacteria.” Being a Gram-negative bacterium, A. baumannii is tough to target since it is shielded by both inner and exterior membranes. The goal of this work was to find and then refine a chemical that could penetrate those two membranes and destroy the bacteria. Following years of refining several compounds’ potencies and safety profiles, the researchers selected one altered molecule.
How does it work?
How does it work? Zosurabalpin prevents the movement of large molecules called lipopolysaccharides to the outer membrane of the bacteria, where they keep the protective membrane intact. This causes the molecules to accumulate inside the bacteria’s cell to the point where the cell becomes so toxic that it dies. In the study, zosurabalpin worked against more than 100 CRAB samples. It also reduced the levels of bacteria in mice with CRAB-induced pneumonia and prevented the death of mice with sepsis triggered by the bacteria.
According to the researchers.
According to the researchers, zosurabalpin is currently undergoing phase 1 clinical studies to evaluate its safety in people. They told CNN of this. However, Dr. Michael Lobritz, global head of infectious diseases at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, told CNN that the lack of viable treatments for antibiotic resistance is still a major global public health concern. Every year, more than 2.8 million illnesses in the US are resistant to antibiotics. As per the 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report by the CDC, over 35,000 individuals passed away as a consequence.
Zosurabalpin is years away from being used on humans, but Dr. César de la Fuente, presidential assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN that it’s a very hopeful discovery. According to de la Fuente, “I think it is exciting from an academic perspective to see a new type of molecule that kills bacteria in a different way.” “I think this is a good example of the new, unconventional ways of thinking about antibiotic discovery that we certainly need.” The researchers pointed out that the changed molecule will only be effective against the particular bacterium it is intended to destroy, which is the single disadvantage of their finding.
However, de la Fuente said this new method could turn out to be better than many broad-spectrum antibiotics. “For decades, we’ve been obsessed with creating or discovering broad-spectrum antibiotics that kill everything,” he noted. “Why not try to come up with specific, more targeted antibiotics that only target the pathogen that is causing the infection and not all the other things that might be good for us?”
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