New drug uses the immune system to kill deadly bacteria – Delano

Scientists created a new drug that hunts and eliminates deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria by engaging the body's natural defenses.

Researchers at the University of Lehigh in Pennsylvania have amalgamated part of an existing antibiotic with a molecule that attracts immune system-bound antibodies to fight off invaders such as bacteria.

The immunobiotic targets a range of bacteria responsible for diseases such as pneumonia and food poisoning, including those that often become resistant to antibiotics of last resort.

"The inspiration came mainly from the recent success of cancer immunotherapy," said Marcos Pires, who led the study.

Pires described as "changing the deal" for patients, also exploits the power of the immune system, but to destroy cancer cells rather than bacteria. The team wanted to know if the immune system could be used to help antibiotics work more effectively.

"We expect that resistance would be slower to develop because of the dual mode of activity – traditional antimicrobial activity and immunotherapy" Pires said. "It should provide fewer mechanisms to escape the actions of our agents."

Pires and his team tested the new compound on a series of bacteria declared priority by the World Health Organization because there are so few drugs against them. Among them was Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common cause of pneumonia in cancer patients, burn victims and people with cystic fibrosis.

Testing of Pseudomonas-infected nematode worms showed that the drug was targeting and killing bacteria. For bacteria, the drug can inflict direct damage while acting as a beacon for antibodies that arrive en mbade to finish the job. In the body, bacteria that become coated with antibodies are destroyed by white blood cells.

The researchers based their compound on a last-resort antibiotic called polymyxin, which damages the outer surface of bacterial cells, causing them to burst and die. Growing evidence suggests that this last line of antibiotic defense is threatened, meaning that there is an urgent need for new antibacterials.

The new immunobiotic drug binds to molecules on the surface of bacteria that are not found on human cells. While the drug has not yet been tested in humans, researchers have not seen any signs of toxicity when it has been tested on animal cells. "We believe that the expansive difference in cell composition between bacterial cells and healthy cells will provide the necessary window for selectivity in targeting bacterial cells without affecting healthy human cells," said Pires.

After testing the new drug in combination with an existing antibiotic to which the bacteria were already resistant, researchers found their bacteria resensitized to the other antibiotic.This result suggests that older antibiotics, which it was believed that they were in the process disappearance due to the generalized resistance of bacteria, could still be useful in badociation with this new drug.

Tim McHugh, professor and director of UCL's Clinical Microbiology Center: "The idea of To use a molecule that targets the outer membrane of bacteria to improve their reactivity to medications or the antibodies is very attractive. "

Research is an important step in the fight against antibiotic resistance. McHugh said, "Bacteria are less likely to become resistant to drugs that target the immune system than drugs that target bacteria more directly." Bacteria can mutate and change their interaction with an antibiotic, but they can not directly alter our immune system. 19659003] Immunobiotics, said Pires, "recruit antibodies that humans already have, so the advantage is that you do not have to vaccinate the patient."

Layal Liverpool