United States: A new antimicrobial compound which has been shown to effectively clear “flesh-eating” bacterial infections in mice and this is according to a new study.
As reported by HealthDay, Researchers and the local health experts believe this compound could definitely lead to an totally new class of antibiotics, offering a valuable and important tool in the fight against antibiotic-resistant germs.
Scott Hultgren, who is ultimately a professor of molecular microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, emphasized and focuses on the growing challenge of treating bacterial infections, which are increasingly becoming resistant and a shield to multiple drugs.
Researchers almost the dubbed the new class of the antibiotics and the which could prove invaluable in the fight against antibiotic-resistant germs said researchers said.
Targeting Gram-Positive Bacteria
This GMpcides target the gram positive bacteria which can cause the drug-resistant staph infections toxic shock syndrome and other deadly infections illnesses said the researchers.
Gram- Pcides target gram positive bacteria, which cause the drug-resistant staph infections, toxic shock syndrome and also the deadly infections illnesses said researchers and this gram positive bacteria that tend to have thick cell walls and can release a variety of toxins during an infections.
All of the gram-positive bacteria that we’ve tested have been susceptible to that compound. That includes enterococci, staphylococci, streptococci, C. difficile, which are the major pathogenic bacteria types,” said co-senior researcher Michael Caparon, a professor of molecular microbiology with Washington University.
Impact on Bacterial Membranes
For this study researchers focused on Streptococcus pyrogens which is almost responsible for 500,000 deaths every years globally including the flesh eating disease.
The GmPCide appeared to reduce the damage done by the bacteria to infected mice, and it also sped up healing of damaged skin, researchers said. However, not all animal research pans out in humans.
It’s not clear yet what makes GmPCides so effective, researchers said.
The compounds appear to have a major effect on the cell membranes of bacteria, researchers noted. This can weaken the bacteria’s ability to spread and do damage.
“One of the jobs of a membrane is to exclude material from the outside,” Caparon said. “We know that within five to 10 minutes of treatment with GmPcide, the membranes start to become permeable and allow things that normally should be excluded to enter into the bacteria, which suggests that those membranes have been damaged.