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
Silver is antimicrobial. A lot of your better athletic socks have silver in the thread to kill bacteria and prevent foot odor.
This would be considered topical, however. I don’t honestly know about ingestion, even though the antimicrobial properties of silver are well known. Seems like a little excess has sprung up around colloidal silver verging upon quackery. That doesn’t mean it has no value, but I get very cautious whenever I see much in the way seemingly of over the top claims.
Some positive reinforcement via cites from PubMed and the like would go a long way toward allaying any suspicion.
I use Bragg’s vinegar as it has the “mother” with live cultures. I also brew kombucha with live cultures. I swear it helped cure my urinary track infection.
“Beginning this fall, Dr. Shoham and colleagues will begin testing the drug candidate in animal models.”
This should be interesting. Many things work in vitro that do not in vivo. Plus, sometimes the “drug” can be as bad as the infection.
Anyway, this approach would seem to show promise to me. By attacking the release of exotoxins from Staph would be a mechanism that does not currently exist in nature. Therefore, I would not expect resistance to it to develope. Generally, most antibiotic resistance is conferred by pre-existing genetic material in plasmids, etc. that already exist. They get horozontally transferred...sometimes between species.
Why would you go to a doctor if all these alternative cures are so great?
The only known side-effect is it makes you spontaneously sing like Ethel Merman, and break wind at the same time.
Braggs is on my shelf, too. Wonderful for just a lift when you feel down. Sooooooo many uses!
Heck, I do that now.
/johnny
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/09/alexander_mann_solutions_narro.html
Here’s a London-based company that just chose “the pit” for its U.S. hub. Interesting story, since they explain, “Why Cleveland?”
Republican Governor Kasich involved. Those damn Republicans bringing companies to Ohio!
Case/Western Reserve. Great area during the day. But be armed at night. Of course, you can head up to Murray Hill and be completely safe!
Yes, and my favorite website for health is earthclinic.com
Manuka honey is something else to look at.
BTW, all Jew-hating Moslems should take note that this doc is Jewish - best to keep up your boycott of things Jewish.
Propolis : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100628111840.htm
We investigated propolis, as part of a programme aimed at discovering new antibiotics from natural sources, because bees use it as an antiseptic glue to seal gaps between honeycombs and preserve their hives from microbial contamination.
“Beeglue is also a natural remedy widely-used in folk medicine for a variety of ailments but little has been known until now about its capacity to target MRSA. Our results have been highly encouraging and we will be taking our research further to understand how active substances in propolis work and to seek the treatments which patients urgently require.”
http://www.annmicro.unimi.it/full/55/kilic_55_113-117.pdf
Your local BeeKeep is your friend!
Ping...
Sounds more like an abcess.
“A sad case. He thinks he’s Ethyl Merman…”
/johnny
So thanks to those bacteria being left alive, will we now have instead of “Typhoid Mary” a “MRSA Mary” wandering around and infecting hundreds or even thousands?
I sometimes wonder if these egghead types think these things through...
I admit it is an interesting approach, but there is a bigger picture here.
I love FR...
“If they think they are making good progress now, wait till they try vinegar.”
Oregano Oil really works, too.
There’s a dental “peroxide” you can get to use on gums/mouth if you feel something “coming on”. Sorry can’t remember the name but can be found at the drugstore and probably walmart. I used to have a lot of problems and found it worked miracles very quickly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.