Posted on 09/21/2012 5:25:12 PM PDT by neverdem
Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has discovered novel antivirulence drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Streptococcus pyogenes, commonly referred to as strep, harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease. The promising discovery was presented this week at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Francisco.
MRSA infections are a growing public health concern, causing 20,000 to 40,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. It is the most prevalent bacterial pathogen in hospital settings and in the community at large, with about one million documented infections per year nationally, costing an estimated $8 billion annually to treat.
The problem has become increasingly severe as the bacteria have developed a resistance to antibiotics. As result, health care providers are running out of options to treat patients suffering from antibiotic-resistant infections, like MRSA and strep, creating a dire need for alternative treatments and approaches.
"Staph bacteria are ubiquitous and normally do not cause infections, however, occasionally these bacteria become harmful due to their secretion of toxins," says Dr. Shoham. "We have discovered potential antivirulence drugs that block the production of toxins, thus rendering the bacteria harmless. Contrary to antibiotics, these new antivirulence drugs do not kill the bacteria. Since the survival of the bacteria is not threatened by this approach, the development of resistance, like that to antibiotics, is not anticipated to be a serious problem."
Dr. Shoham identified a bacterial protein, known as AgrA, as the key molecule responsible for turning on the release of toxins. AgrA, however, needs to be activated to induce toxin production. His goal was to block the activation of AgrA with a drug, thus preventing the cascade of toxin release into the blood that can lead to serious infections throughout the body.
The screening for AgrA inhibitors was initially carried out in a computer by docking libraries of many thousands of "drug-like" compounds and finding out which compounds would fit best into the activation site on AgrA. Subsequently, about 100 of the best scoring compounds were tested in the laboratory for inhibition of the production of a toxin that ruptures red blood cells. Seven of these compounds were found to be active. Testing compounds bearing chemical similarity to the original compounds lead to the discovery of additional and more potent so-called "lead" compounds.
Optimization of the initial "lead" compounds was performed by chemical synthesis of 250 new compounds bearing small but important chemical modifications on one of the initial leads. More than a dozen active compounds have been discovered by this method. The best drug candidate reduces red blood cell rupture by 95 percent without affecting bacterial growth.
Beginning this fall, Dr. Shoham and colleagues will begin testing the drug candidate in animal models.
"It is possible to inhibit virulence of MRSA without killing the bacteria," continues Dr. Shoham. "Such antivirulence drugs may be used for prophylaxis or therapy by themselves or in combination with an antibiotic. Antivirulence therapy may resensitize bacteria to antibiotics that have become ineffective by themselves." Source : Case Western Reserve University
His paper from last year.
My cousin just about lost a leg to this stuff a couple of years ago ... quite an ordeal.
If they think they are making good progress now, wait till they try vinegar.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my combined microbiology/immunology ping list.
I’m glad the researchers ahven’t limited their thinking to merely topical treatments ...
Had just this past summer that landed me up in the hospital, another really bad bacterial infection, second most serious after MRSA, which if left untreated, could also become life threatening and I had it on my lower left jaw/chin area because of two dead wisdom teeth in the lower left jaw area as well called cellulitis. The wisdom teeth were removed and the area drained.
:’)
Thanks neverdem
ping
Wonderful news! Cleveland is a pit,,, but it can be very proud of Case Western, and the work done there! My Dad graduated summa cum laude in ‘42.
Exactly what I was thinking. Then H2O2. What are they going to do with the extra money in their budgets?
If you have a occurrence try drinking a tsp of baking soda in water. Raise your O2 level and kill it.
Dittos to that!
Several years ago, I got strep throat. My sister-in-law got it about the same time. She went to the Dr and got medicine to treat hers. I chose to gargle with cider vinegar. After two days of this, I woke up in the middle of the night to a feeling that something ‘popped’ in my throat and then feeling something slightly gritty. The sore throat was gone and I felt much better in the morning. It took my sister-in-law a week before she started to feel better.
re-occurrence
acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide...
how about coloidial silver?
“Source : Case Western Reserve University”
I worked at The University Hospitals of Cleveland for years (associated with Case.) I’d have to be at deaths door to see a doctor. There are so many cures for so many things.... If it can’t be made a pharmaceutical drug and patented, forget it. If you don’t follow alternative medicine or old treatments, tough luck. They’ve cured cancer so many different ways it’s ridiculous, but cures don’t make money for the doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies, especially when they can’t be patented.
Great post; great thread. Thanks to all posters.
life/health BUMP!
bookmark. Thanks.
Thank-you!
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