Antibiotic Alternative Treats Urinary Infection in Mice
Prevents bacteria from attaching to bladder
November 18, 2011
A mannoside drug proved more effective than antibiotics in mice with urinary tract infections, according to lead study author Corinne Cusumano.
Researchers have a new approach for treating urinary tract infections, a painful condition which can often be treated successfully with antibiotics. But many times, the infection is caused by strains of bacteria that are resistant to the drugs.
This new approach may bypass the resistance issue, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine.
When a urinary tract infection begins, the bacteria attaches, or binds, to the bladder. It does this by clinging to molecular receptors on a sugar called mannose, found normally on the inner surface of the bladder.
James Janetka of Washington University in Saint Louis and his team devised chemicals called mannosides that mimic the mannose and act as a kind of decoy for the bacteria. The idea is that if the bacteria attach to the mannoside, they won't be able to attach to the mannose on the bladder."Most antibiotics kill the bacteria," Janetka says. "That's what we call cytotoxics. In our case, our compounds are not cytotoxic. Our compounds actually block this binding of the bacteria to the bladder cells, so that the body's own immune system can clear the bacteria normally."
To test the concept, laboratory mice with urinary tract infections were given a mannoside drug, called "compound 6." Lead author Corinne Cusumano says that in the mice, the mannoside was more effective than antibiotics.
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