A class of antibiotics that could treat fatal hospital infections has been discovered, caused by super bacteria resistant to currently available drugs. The new compound, zosurabalpin, worked “extremely well” in test tubes and in mice, highlighted the scientific director of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, Laura Piddock, to the BBC. The study, published in Nature, offers “certain hope” for other difficult-to-treat infections, the expert said, speaking of a “very exciting” discovery.
US researchers have focused on how to treat infections caused by the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, which is resistant to carbapenems, broad-spectrum antibiotics. The organism, classified as a “priority critical pathogen” by the World Health Organization, can cause very serious invasive blood and chest infections in critically ill hospitalized patients. Many known antibiotics have now become blunt weapons against this bacterium and approximately 40-60% of infected people die.
One of the main reasons why it is so difficult to find new drugs that neutralize it – experts explain – is the complex structure of the bacterium, with a double-walled membrane that surrounds it and protects it from attacks. A barrier configuration that “makes it very difficult to introduce drugs and keep them inside”, explains Piddock. But zosurabalpin, discovered after analyzing around 45,000 small molecules with potential antibiotic properties, appears to destroy the microorganism's ability to successfully assemble this crucial protective membrane. “One of the constituent elements of the external part of this bacterial cell is destroyed by this new drug”, underlines the expert.
In laboratory experiments, the compound prevented the transport of a key element, a lipopolysaccharide, to the outside of the cell, preventing the correct formation of the protective membrane and ultimately leading to cell death.
The researchers have already completed some studies on a relatively small number of healthy people, and are now ready to conduct full clinical trials on infected patients. But, Piddock specifies, “we are very far away” from its use in hospitals.
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