Feature Channels: Drug Resistance

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The same mutation that gives TB bacteria resistance to the antibiotic rifampicin also elicits a different – and potentially weaker – immune response.

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The use of probiotics is linked to reduced need for antibiotic treatment in infants and children, according to a review of studies that probed the benefits of probiotics, co-led by a Georgetown investigator.

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New research shows that the body’s own microbes are effective in maintaining immune cells and killing certain oral infections.

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Using genetic and pharmacological means, scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) were surprised to find that blocking LDHA had only a limited impact on melanoma cells, since they were able to redirect energy production. Their results identify an alternative growth pathway driven by a molecule called ATF4, revealing new potential targets for drug development. The study was published today in EMBO Journal.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded New York University nearly $66 million over the next five years to study how exposure to environmental factors influences children’s health. This new funding is an extension of a previous award of nearly $15 million over the last two years from an NIH initiative called Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO), which investigates how a range of environmental factors in early development – from conception through early childhood – affects the health and development of children and adolescents.

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Thirty to 40 percent of people with epilepsy — more than 1 million Americans — continue to experience seizures despite taking medication. Experts at the UCLA Seizure Disorder Center at UCLA Health want to change that picture. Their message to people with epilepsy as well as their doctors is simple: Referral to a full-service epilepsy center can help.

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The latest research, features and announcements in healthcare in the Healthcare News Source

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A monthly roundup of research briefs showcasing recent scientific advances led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center faculty.

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NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL, presented a talk titled, “Clinical utility of the Streck ARM-D Kits to detect antimicrobial resistance genes from extracts of axillary, throat and rectal swabs” at ASM Microbe 2018.

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Adding another inhibitor to therapies that cut off a tumor’s access to blood vessels could be the key to helping those therapies overcome resistance in glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.

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•On a national level, implementation of antimicrobial stewardships in outpatient dialysis facilities would result in 2182 fewer infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile (a 4.8% reduction) per year. • It would also lead to 629 fewer infection-related deaths (a 4.6% reduction) and a cost savings of $99,804,603 (a 4.7% reduction) per year.

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Individual variations in genetic makeup and gut bacteria may explain the different effects of antibiotics on blood pressure, a new rat study suggests. The findings are published ahead of print in Physiological Genomics.

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he use of mud or wet clay as a topical skin treatment or a poultice is a common practice in some cultures and the concept of using mud as medicine goes back to earliest times. Now Mayo Clinic researchers and their collaborators at Arizona State University have found that at least one type of clay may help fight disease-causing bacteria in wounds, including some treatment-resistant bacteria. The findings appear in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.

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Using computer modeling, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are helping to develop the means to prevent some deaths from infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria.

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Researchers comparing several clonal strains of isoniazid-sensitive and resistant tuberculosis bacteria found shared changes to mycobacterial metabolism that bolster the evidence for a new proposed drug target.

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Hundreds of polymers - which could kill drug-resistant superbugs in novel ways - can be produced and tested using light, using a method developed at the University of Warwick.

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Bacteria—especially Gram-negative strains—are becoming increasingly resistant to current antibiotic drugs, and the development of new classes of antibiotics has slowed. Faced with these challenges, investigators are studying the potential of combination therapy, in which two or more drugs are used together to increase or restore the efficacy of both drugs against a resistant bacterial pathogen. Now new research indicates that such synergy may work even when bacteria become resistant to colistin, which is considered a treatment agent of last resort.

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Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that certain drug cocktails help targeted therapies attack cancer more efficiently while lessening common side effects, according to a study published today in Cancer Research.

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A soil-based bacterium called Streptomyces griseus could become New Jersey’s official state microbe 75 years after Rutgers University–New Brunswick scientists discovered its ability to cure tuberculosis. The 1943 discovery at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station defined Rutgers’ role as a leader in antibiotic research and had a profound impact on global health.

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Drug resistance is an all-too-common occurrence in cancer treatment. Now, working with physicians at Chaim Sheba Medical Center, the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Prof. Yossi Yarden has identified a three-drug combo that fends off drug resistance in lung cancer. This is particularly promising, as two of the medications are already in use.

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Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges announce institute to be based at Iowa State; jointly funded by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State University.

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Iowa State will lead a national institute to address a global public health concern. The new Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education builds upon a partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Iowa, Mayo Clinic and many other researchers, educators, clinicians and extension personnel. APLU and AAVMC announced the institute, which stems from a recommendation by a joint task force. The Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education will be housed at Iowa State and funded by ISU and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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“Percolation” theory is helping explain how communities of bacteria can effectively relay signals across long distances. Once regarded as simple microorganisms, communities of bacteria have been found to employ a strategy we use to brew coffee and extract oil from the sea. Percolation helps the microscopic community thrive and survive threats.

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Two current drugs used to treat psychosis and depression showed anti-cancer activity in mice by blocking the movement of cholesterol within drug-resistant cancer cells, according to Penn State Cancer Institute researchers.

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A new delivery system for bacteriophages—viruses that selectively attack harmful bacteria—could help give doctors a new way to battle lung infections that threaten older patients and people with cystic fibrosis.

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Streck, Inc., received great interest in Streck ARM-D® Kits after its poster presentation on improved methodology for detection of antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria at ECCMID 2018 in Madrid.

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New methods of studying the evolution of treatment resistance in head and neck cancer are being developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

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UT Southwestern researchers today published the first atomic structure of a brain receptor bound to a drug used to reverse anesthesia and to treat sedative overdoses.

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In a new pilot study, a team led by researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine conducted the first full comparison of gonococcal gene expression and regulation in both men and women, identifying gender-specific signatures in infection and in antibiotic resistance genes.

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Microbiologist Aimee Shen at Tufts University School of Medicine is one of 12 new recipients nationwide of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2018 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) award for her research on Clostridium difficile.

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With microbial resistance to antibiotics growing into a major global health crisis, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with national research institutions and private industry, are leveraging hard-won expertise to exploit a natural viral enemy of pathogenic bacteria, creating North America’s first Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH).

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FAU’s Harbor Branch houses more than 1,000 strains of actinobacteria, one of the most prolific microbial groups for the production of natural products. Derived from sea sponges and other macro-organisms, several strains were identified for their potent antifungal activity, for anti-MRSA activity, and for both antifungal and antibacterial activities. A key finding was the identification of a strain that produced metabolites that are more potent than the bacterial antibiotic, vancomycin, against C. difficile.

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A new federally funded center of excellence led by Iowa State University scientists will analyze various structures and mechanisms in the swine genome with the goal of allowing pork producers to predict with greater accuracy the traits in their herds. The institute will include personnel at Iowa State, Michigan State, The University of California at Davis, and the USDA Agriculture Research Service.

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Antimicrobial resistance continues to increase, and antimicrobial stewardship programs are developing plans to report antimicrobial use in order to reduce and optimize the use of antibiotics.

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Researchers at Indiana University have made the first direct observation of how bacteria use appendages thousands of times thinner than a human hair to absorb DNA in the environment. The work could help advance efforts stop antibiotic resistant bacteria.

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During 325 observations, researchers at the University of Utah and University of Michigan identified 283 protocol violations, which could increase the risk of self-contamination of health care personnel and transmission of antibiotic-resistant organisms to patients.

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Results from a new clinical study have confirmed the safety and tolerability of using bacteria-specific viruses known as bacteriophages to eliminate disease-causing bacteria in the gut.

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The latest research and features in cell biology in the Cell Biology News Source

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An international team of researchers has found a new way to investigate how tuberculosis bacteria inactivate an important family of antibiotics: They watched the process in action for the first time using an X-ray free-electron laser, or XFEL.

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A new study led by David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in the George Washington University’s department of engineering management and systems engineering, finds the “Why not take a risk?” mentality is widespread among patients and medical care providers.

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Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids.

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Scientists in Madagascar have for the first time performed DNA sequencing in-country using novel, portable technology to rapidly identify the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis (TB) and its drug resistance profile.

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Most of what we know today about deadly bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa was obtained from studies done in laboratory settings. Research reported May 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that this laboratory-based information may have important limits for predicting how these bugs behave once they’ve invaded humans.

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Drug-resistant staph infections continue to be deadlier than those that are not resistant and treatable with traditional antibiotics, but treatment costs surprisingly are the same or slightly less, a new national analysis shows.

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Epilepsy patients who have not responded to standard drug treatments may benefit from a new therapy that delivers high frequency bursts of electrical stimulation, called microbursts, to the brain. Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is the first health care provider in the world to provide this treatment, known as microburst vagus nerve stimulation.

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Antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections, one of the most common hospital-acquired infections in children across the United States, are on the rise, according to results of a recent study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society on March 22.

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UCLA Gram negative F. nucleatum-induced host-generated tsRNA inhibits the growth of F. nucleatum (top row) but not Streptococcus mitis (bottom row).   A new UCLA-led study provides clear evidence that cellular messengers in saliva may be able to regulate the growth of oral bacteria responsible for diseases, such as periodontitis and meningitis.

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When it comes to the examination room at your health care clinic, you might think that avoiding catching the flu or other more deadly viruses is out of your hands, so to speak. But infectious disease experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), who just published a practical guide for infectious disease control in clinics, reveal how we can all help make a difference in infection control.