Australian scientists have discovered a method that could make existing antibiotics far more effective against drug-resistant bacteria, or superbugs. The approach harnesses the body's innate immune system to help fight infections that routine drugs can no longer treat.
Researchers at Monash University linked compounds known as formylated peptides to vancomycin, an antibiotic commonly used against the hospital superbug MRSA. The peptides act as a trail of breadcrumbs, attracting white blood cells to the site of infection to help the antibiotic destroy the bacteria. In mouse models, the combination was twice as effective as vancomycin alone, while requiring only one-fifth of the usual dose.
Lead author Dr Jennifer Payne said the reduced dose could make treatment cheaper and avoid drug toxicity. She explained that while the immune system is normally good at fighting bacteria, superbugs are skilled at hiding from it. "They can then multiply, and that's when we become sick," she said. "If they're already resistant, or they develop resistance during that treatment, it means the antibiotics can't kill them either."
Payne described antibiotics as "the cornerstone of modern medicine", enabling surgery and cancer treatment. She warned that without adequate research funding for new drugs, complete antibiotic resistance "is already sitting on our doorstep – it's kind of like the next pandemic". She added that modern medicine would be "plunged back into the dark ages" if it came about.
The research, conducted in live mouse models and isolated human cells, is still some way from preclinical and clinical trials. The team hopes to test similar approaches with other antibiotics. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
