A peptide could be the answer to halting antibiotic resistance, according to a Swedish study.
Research carried out by Örebro University has shown that plantaricin, an antibacterial peptide, renders older antibiotics effective again at doses 100 times lower than the common dosage.
Writing in Nature Scientific Reports, Professor Torbjörn Bengtsson, professor in medical cell biology, and colleagues said that plantaricin can be combined with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to kill bacteria.
They found that plantaricin rapidly affects and dissolves the bacterial membrane, which then makes it easier for the antibiotics to reach their targets in the bacteria and kill it.
Hazem Khalaf, of Örebro University, said: “With plantaricin, the doses of antibiotics required to get a sufficient antibacterial effect is 100 times lower than usual. And lower doses are a good thing since the antibiotics can have toxic side-effects and damage internal organs.”
The study, which also involved researchers from Linköping University, tested different types of antibiotics, including those that attack the bacterial cell wall and those that enter the bacteria and attack DNA, RNA or a specific protein. Plantaricin appeared to work well with most antibiotics.
Prof Bengtsson said: “The membrane is a basic structure in the bacterial cell and has been stable during evolution without major changes. This most likely explains why bacteria do not have the ability to develop resistance to our peptides.”
The next step is to develop it further and make use of the good antibacterial effects of plantaricin within healthcare, primarily by preventing and treating wound infections.
The researchers hope their findings will attract interest from pharmaceutical companies to develop novel treatment strategies of severe bacterial infections.
Bengtsson T, Selegård R, Musa A et al. Plantaricin NC8 aß exerts potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus spp. and enhances the effects of antibiotics. Nature Scientific Reports 27 February 2020.
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