Antibiotics: Melbourne Researchers Exploring Using Teixobactin For Bacterial Lung Conditions Including Secondary COVID-19 Infections
Antibiotics: Researchers from University of Melbourne are exploring ways to eradicate lethal pathogens with 'resistance resistant' antibiotics, and it could also contribute in the fight against SARS-CoV-2coronavirus disease or COVID-19 complications.
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Typically as bacteria evolve, they develop strategies that undermine antibiotics and morph into 'superbugs' that can resist most available treatments by antibiotics and cause potentially lethal infections.
The research team has shown that a newly discovered natural antibiotic, teixobactin, could be effective in treating bacterial lung conditions such as tuberculosis and those commonly associated with COVID-19.
The new research could pave the way for a new generation of treatments for particularly stubborn superbugs.
The antibiotic Teixobactin was discovered in 2015 by a team led by Professor Kim Lewis at Northeastern University in Boston in 2015. His company is now developing it as a human therapeutic.
The research by University of Melbourne published in the journal
mSystems, is the first to explain how teixobactin works in relation to the superbug Staphylococcus aureus also known as MRSA.
https://msystems.asm.org/content/5/3/e00077-20
Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA is among bacteria responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans, particularly post-viral secondary bacterial infections such as COVID-19 chest infections and influenza.
Dr Maytham Hussein, University of Melbourne Research Fellow in anti-infectives and Associate Professor Dr Tony Velkov's research team synthesized an aspect of teixobactin to produce a compound that showed excellent effectiveness against MRSA, which is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin.
The research team that there was no way to stop bacteria like MSRA from developing resistance to antibiotics as it was part of its evolution. This made combatting it extremely challenging.
Dr Hussein said, "The rise of multi drug-resistant bacteria has become inevitable. These bacteria cause many deadly infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients such as diabetic patients or those with cancers, or even elderly people with post-flu secondary bacterial infections."
The Australian research team is the first to find that teixobactin significantly suppressed mechanisms involved in resistance to vancomycin-based antibiotics that are recommended for complicated skin infections, bloodstream infections, endocarditis, bone and joint infections, and MRSA-caused meningitis.
The development could lead to new lung infection treatments and Associate Professor Velkov said it would greatly facilitate the pre-clinical development of teixobactin.
Dr Velkov said, "Bacteria often develop resistance towards antibiotics within 48 hours after exposure. The bacteria failed to develop resistance towards this compound over 48 hours.”
He further addd, "These novel results will open doors to develop novel an
tibacterial drugs for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-positive infections.”
The researchers are also planning actual clinical trials commencing as early as July this year.
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