Feature Channels: Drug Resistance

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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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The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.

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Over one billion people, including 880 million children, are infected with intestinal nematode worms, such as roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms, according to the World Health Organization.

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Scientists in recent years have hypothesized that cell-cell differences aides the emergence of drug resistance. A new study published online in Nature Communications has tested this theory and yielded findings that may provide a path to reduce chemotherapy resistance.

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New research from Cornell University offers a new pathway for targeting pathogens in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria.

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Drug-resistant malaria is prevalent in Southeast Asia and may spread. Doctors currently can tell whether powerful malaria drugs will work through or a DNA duplication method that allows for optical detection of a disease’s biomarkers, but it's tough to use in low-resource areas.

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The introduction of the Developing an Innovative Strategy for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms -- DISARM -- Act -- by United States Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) Tuesday represents an essential step toward addressing the growing threat of infections that are increasingly resistant to existing treatments. By improving critical Medicare reimbursement for antibiotics and promoting their appropriate use, the legislation has the potential to stabilize the antibiotics market, spur the development of new infection-fighting drugs, and preserve the effectiveness of existing medicines.

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Preschool children with community-acquired pneumonia often receive unnecessary tests and treatment at outpatient clinics and emergency departments, according to a nationally representative study led by Todd Florin, MD, MSCE, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

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Tuberculosis is the most lethal infectious disease in the world. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Umea University in Sweden have found a compound that can prevent and even reverse antibiotic resistance in TB bacteria.

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A study conducted by a team of researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has revealed a close association between liposarcoma (LPS), a type of cancer that develops from fat cells, and the bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein family.

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A new study found that 81% of antibiotics prescribed by dentists to prevent infections prior to dental visits are unnecessary.

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A new compound which visualises and kills antibiotic resistant superbugs has been discovered by scientists at the University of Sheffield and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL).

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Concentrations of antibiotics found in some of the world's rivers exceed 'safe' levels by up to 300 times, the first ever global study has discovered.

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To treat Candida albicans, a common yeast that can cause illness in those with weakened immune systems, University at Buffalo researchers limited the fungus’ access to iron, an element crucial to the organism’s survival.

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New drug also may increase effectiveness of oral chemotherapy for these tumors, known for their resistance to treatment.

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Those same antibiotics driving antibiotic resistance could also help defeat it if used with the right strategy. Making it work would require companion health strategies like staying home from work when carrying resistant bacteria.

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With more targeted therapies being approved each year for cancer, the development of drug resistance to these agents is a growing concern. It has often been assumed that drug resistance is due to the presence or development of additional genetic alterations; however, it is now clear that resistance mechanisms are more complicated. Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a mechanism of drug resistance to Venetoclax®, also known as ABT-199, a BCL-2 targeting drug commonly used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. Their findings, published in the journal Cancer Cell, also suggest a possible co-treatment strategy to overcome this resistance.

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A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)—bacteria that have high levels of resistance to most antibiotics—could be reduced if only 25 percent of the largest health care facilities in a region used a patient registry, a database that can track which patients are carrying CRE.

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While sifting through the bacterial genome of salmonella, Cornell University food scientists discovered mcr-9, a new stealthy, jumping gene so diabolical and robust that it resists one of the world’s few last-resort antibiotics.

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Diana Aga's research examines how sewage treatment systems help — or don’t help — to eliminate antimicrobial drugs and their remnants, called residues, from wastewater before it’s discharged into rivers and lakes.