New Compound Kills Drug-Resistant Bacteria

August 15, 2024

https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/scientists-develop-new-compound-that-kills-flesh-eating-bacteria-and-other-drug-resistant-bacteria

Scientists Develop New Compound That Kills Flesh-Eating and Other Drug-Resistant Bacteria

The new compound, PS757, may form a new type of antibiotic drug class, researchers hope.

Twenty years ago, professor Fredrik Almqvist, an organic chemistry professor at Umeå University in Sweden, was asked by his collaborating researchers at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) to design a compound that would prevent urinary tract infections, which are often caused by Gram-negative bacterial infections.

Almqvist’s team created various compounds that were then screened for their effects.

Rather than controlling Gram-negative bacteria adherence, they found some of the compounds were highly effective at killing various Gram-positive bacteria. These included multidrug-resistant strains classified as concerning threats by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The researchers singled out one compound, which they named PS757. Lab testing has shown PS757 to be effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, and erythromycin-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), among others.

They further studied the effect of PS757 on S. pyogenes, a potentially flesh-eating bacteria, in animals.  (See link for article)
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**Highlights**
  • an animal study shows it may help control the spread of flesh-eating bacteria in rats and aid in recovery.  The study also showed it to be effective against other Gram-positive bacteria.
  • The U.S., China, and the UK has seen resistance to clindamycin.  Linezolid has been a useful alternative.  (I’ve had reports that it’s helped with Lyme/MSIDS)
  • There haven’t been any toxicity studies on PS757 yet.
  • The compound was designed by mimicking a bacterial peptide.
  • The bactericidal effect on wild-type bacteria is only seen with Gram-positives but the scientists are confident they can develop the compound further to affect Gram-negative bacteria.
  • The properties in PS757 make it effective against persister cells, living bacteria that have stopped growing – a particular problem with borrelia, the organism that causes Lyme disease.
  • Without increasing dosage, it can also kill bacteria in biofilms, a protective bacterial community also seen in Lyme/MSIDS patients.
  • So far researchers have not been able to find bacteria resistant to PS757.
  • The compound is now patented and licensed to a company in the hopes of clinical trials and drugs.

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