Indian researchers have unravelled the mechanism by which hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas produced by bacteria protects them from antibiotics and plays a key role in helping bacteria develop drug resistance. And by blocking/disabling the enzyme that triggers the biosynthesis of hydrogen sulphide in bacteria, the researchers from Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian... Continue Reading →
IISc’s potent molecules show promise for TB therapy
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have developed two new, potent molecules that can severely impact the survival of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB. The results were published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Unlike most antibiotics that target the bacterial metabolism by aiming at the cellular components, the... Continue Reading →
Why is TB bacteria not on WHO’s deadly superbug list?
Of the estimated 10.4 million new tuberculosis cases globally in 2015, nearly 0.5 million estimated cases were multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB cases. Another nearly one million were resistant to rifampicin drug alone. India accounted for 2.84 million new cases in 2015, of which 79,000 had MDR-TB. There were 1.4 million TB deaths worldwide in 2015. For... Continue Reading →
IISc produces a novel salt to better combat bacterial infections
Using crystal engineering, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has successfully produced a highly efficacious binary salt of two commonly used drugs — norfloxacin (antibacterial) and sulfathiazole (antimicrobial). The salt is more effective than a physical mixture of the two drugs. The results were published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.... Continue Reading →
IIT Hyderabad finds a chink in E. coli armour
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) have made a promising start to render E. coli bacteria more susceptible to host immune response. The researchers have found a potential way of preventing the bacterial surface-associated polysaccharide — capsular polysaccharide (CPS) or K antigen — from attaching on the surface membrane and forming a protective encapsulation of the bacteria, thus... Continue Reading →
Pharmacies in India may not be causing TB drug-resistance
If an earlier study revealed the tendency of private practitioners to liberally use antibiotics to treat tuberculosis leading to a delay in TB diagnosis and treatment and increase the chances of TB spreading within a community, pharmacies in Delhi, Mumbai and Patna are no better. A study published on August 25, 2016 in the journal... Continue Reading →
A novel, powerful antibiotic found inside human nose
A novel antibiotic — lugdunin — produced by a bacterium found inside the human nose has been found to kill the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, including drug-resistant forms such as the methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The study found S. aureus does not develop resistance against the novel antibiotic. The findings could aid the development of new... Continue Reading →
Mcr-1 gene found in second human sample in the U.S.
Researchers have identified a second sample of E. coli in human sample in the U.S. containing the mcr-1 gene. This comes nearly six weeks after the first case of a 49-year-old woman from Pennsylvania with a urinary tract infection caused by E. coli was found carrying the gene, mcr-1. Mcr-1 is resistant to the antibiotic colistin, the... Continue Reading →
The changing landscape of malaria parasite P. vivax’s resistance to drugs
The malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax found in South America and Asia evolves quickly in response to widely-used anti-malarial drugs, a genomic study published on June 27, 2016 in the journal Nature Genetics shows. The results are based on 200 samples collected from Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia) Oceania (Papua Indonesia and... Continue Reading →
