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Study: New compound fights drug-resistant bacteria
August 4, 1997
Web posted at: 9:05 p.m. EDT (0105 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN)-- Scientists have developed a precise type of chemical 'scissors' that may end resistance to drugs in bacteria.
Using this novel approach, researchers say they have been able to change drug-resistant bacteria into organisms that are vulnerable to conventional drugs.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted on mice but could lead to promising new strategies to fight drug-resistant bacteria, a growing international public health problem.
In the study, scientists at Yale University, in cooperation with Innovir Laboratories, came up with External Guide System compounds that essentially eliminate the genetic material in bacteria. Those materials are what keep the bacteria from succumbing to antibiotics.
According to Innovir's Allan Goldberg, EGS becomes part of the reproductive instructions of the bacteria. That process, in turn, re-targets certain enzymes to snip out the tiny portion of the bacterial gene that is making them drug resistant.
There are approximately 160 antibiotics available to fight disease. But drug resistance is becoming a major issue, for example, in tuberculosis or certain types of hospital-based staphylococcus infections. Many antibiotics no longer have much effect on these virulent organisms.
If the EGS concept works, drugs containing these compounds could be given to patients prior to their receiving antibiotics, potentially eliminating any drug-resistance they might have. Another possibility, according to Goldberg, is to incorporate the EGS material directly into existing antibiotics.
EGS does not appear to be toxic, and bacteria are unlikely to become resistant to it because it's like a Trojan Horse that disables a crucial part of the bacteria's ability to defend itself.
Another potential use for EGS is fighting cancers that have become resistant to many chemotherapeutic drugs.
Researchers stress that EGS is still years away from possible approval by the Food and Drug Administration. More animal studies are in the works.
"It's a terrific idea," says Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, but he cautions that its practicality is questionable.
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