March 29, 2024

A New Potential Method To Treat Superbug Infections

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of bacteria that is resistant to a number of prescription antibiotics typically utilized to treat staph infections. This makes MRSA infections harder to treat and can lead to major health consequences.
New study demonstrates how DNA components can improve penicillin-type prescription antibiotics to combat MRSA.
Researchers at the University of Galway have revealed a method to enhance the efficiency of penicillin-type prescription antibiotics against MRSA, an unsafe superbug. Their findings have the prospective to enhance MRSA treatment options as penicillin-type prescription antibiotics are currently inadequate by themselves.
The study, led by the University of Galways Professor James P OGara and Dr. Merve S Zeden, was recently released in the journal mBio..
Professor of Microbiology James OGara said: “This discovery is necessary because it has actually exposed a potentially new method to deal with MRSA infections with penicillin-type drugs, which stay the most safe and most effective prescription antibiotics.”.

The photos reveal MRSA growing on the surfaces of two agar plates, one without guanosine (left) and one with guanosine (right) onto which disks soaked with prescription antibiotics have been applied. The zones of clearing around the antibiotic disks are a sign of MRSA killing. Credit: University of Galway.
The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis is one of the best dangers to human health with superbugs like MRSA placing a substantial problem on worldwide health care resources.
The microbiology research study team at the University of Galway revealed that MRSA could be a lot more effectively eliminated by penicillin-type antibiotics when integrated with purines, which are the foundation for DNA.
Aaron Nolan, a Ph.D. student at the University of Galway and Dr. Merve S Zeden from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway. Credit: University of Galway.
Dr. Zeden said: “Purine nucleosides, Adenosine, Xanthosine, and Guanosine are sugar variations of the structure blocks of DNA, and our work revealed that they disrupt signaling systems in the bacterial cell which are required for antibiotic resistance.”.
The conversation noted the drugs originated from purines are already used to treat some viral infections and cancers.
Aaron Nolan is a Ph.D. student at the University of Galway and was the co-first author on the paper. He stated: “Finding new ways to re-sensitize superbugs to currently licensed prescription antibiotics is a vital part of efforts to deal with the AMR crisis. Our research study implicated the capacity of purine nucleosides in re-sensitizing MRSA to penicillin-type prescription antibiotics.”.
Recommendation: “Purine Nucleosides Interfere with c-di-AMP Levels and Act as Adjuvants To Re-Sensitize MRSA To β-Lactam Antibiotics” by Aaron C. Nolan, Merve S. Zeden, Igor Kviatkovski, Christopher Campbell, Lucy Urwin, Rebecca M. Corrigan, Angelika Gründling and James P. OGara, 12 December 2022, mBio.DOI: 10.1128/ mbio.02478-22.
The study was funded by the Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Irish Research Council
.

The photographs show MRSA growing on the surface areas of 2 agar plates, one without guanosine (left) and one with guanosine (right) onto which disks soaked with prescription antibiotics have actually been applied. The zones of clearing around the antibiotic disks are a sign of MRSA killing. He said: “Finding new methods to re-sensitize superbugs to presently licensed antibiotics is a crucial part of efforts to tackle the AMR crisis. Our research study implicated the potential of purine nucleosides in re-sensitizing MRSA to penicillin-type prescription antibiotics.”.