– New antibiotic potentiating activity has been discovered for treatment of Cystic Fibrosis associate infections.
(STOCKHOLM) Symcel— a company providing real-time metabolic measurements for bacteria and cell culture with their product the calScreener™ ̶ was recently involved in a publication the role of different compounds to increase the activity of antimicrobials.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common cause of infections in the Cystic Fibrosis lungs. Tolerance to antimicrobial treatments is a common problem, where the microbial communities adopt a physiology that prevent antimicrobials from working. The bacterial cells do not harbour any mutations that make them resistant to antibiotic treatment, nevertheless, antibiotics do not work effectively due to the changes in their physiology.
One particular problematic physiological change is when cells go into a dormant state with a much-reduced metabolic output. During this state, microbial cells shut down many of their cellular processes that are targeted by antimicrobials. If the cells are not synthesising proteins, then protein synthesis inhibiting compounds will not have an effect.
One way to overcome this problem is to administer antibiotics with potentiating compounds that will allow the antimicrobials to work effectively again. For example, if you can stimulate the metabolism of dormant bacteria, then a whole host of antibiotics could be used that were ineffective before.
In a recent study published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a team led by Professor Tom Coenye from Ghent University discovered that they could sensitise Ps. aeruginosa biofilms to several different antibiotics by increasing their metabolism. This research finding can directly be applied to clinical treatments of chronic infections in Cystic Fibrosis patients.
Read publication here: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/AAC.01875-21
ENDS
For more information, please contact Dr. Jesper Ericsson (Jesper.Ericsson@Symcel.com)
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About Symcel
Symcel is leading a new era in metabolic measurements for use in rapid diagnostics and improved therapies. They provide a novel cell-based assay tool for real-time cellular metabolism measurements. Their solution is a fast, label-free phenotypic screening technology for direct measurements on cell behaviour and drug responses. Symcel was founded in 2004 by Dr. Dan Hallén and Prof. Ingemar Wadsö, leading authorities in bioactivity measurements. The current team at Symcel has extensive experience within the biotechnology industry and diagnostics.