Researchers from Florida International University's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine are part of an international team that has discovered a new broad-spectrum antibiotic that contains arsenic. The study, published in Nature's Communication Biology, is a collaboration between Barry P. Rosen, Masafumi Yoshinaga, Venkadesh Sarkarai Nadar and others from the Department of Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, and Satoru Ishikawa and Masato Kuramata from the Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO in Japan.
"The antibiotic, arsinothricin or AST, is a natural product made by soil bacteria and is effective against many types of bacteria, which is what broad-spectrum means," said Rosen, co-senior author of the study published in the Nature journal, Communications Biology. "Arsinothricin is the first and only known natural arsenic-containing antibiotic, and we have great hopes for it."
Although it contains arsenic, researchers say they tested AST toxicity on human blood cells and reported that "it doesn't kill human cells in tissue culture."
"People get scared when they hear the word arsenic because it can be a toxin and carcinogen, but the use of arsenicals as antimicrobials and anti-cancer agents is well established," says Rosen. In 1908, Paul Erlich won the Nobel Prize in medicine after finding an arsenic-based cure for syphilis. Arsenicals are still used to treat tropical diseases, preventing infectious diseases in poultry, and as a chemotherapeutic treatment for leukemia.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around two million people in the United States are infected with drug-resistant bacteria every year, killing more than 23,000. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that "a growing number of infections - such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and salmonellosis - are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective." WHO recently released a global priority list of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that pose the greatest threat to human health.
"We are running out of tools to fight these diseases. We need a new potent antibiotic to solve this problem," says Yoshinaga, the other co-senior author. "We showed that this new novel arsenic compound can be a potent antibiotic,"
The group of scientists has tested the new antibiotic and found it to be "very effective" against some of the most notorious bacteria affecting public health including E. coli, which can cause severe intestinal infections; and the "last resort antibiotic" carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae, the culprit of increasing infections in neonatal and intensive care units, and one of the WHO-designated priority pathogens. It also worked against Mycobacterium bovis, which causes tuberculosis in cattle. This suggests the potential for treating human tuberculosis. Further testing will be necessary to determine the antibiotic's effectiveness and toxicity in animals and humans.
The team is now in the process of patenting its discovery and hopes to work with the pharmaceutical industry to develop the compound into a drug--a long and expensive process that could easily take 10 years. Success is not guaranteed, but the work of these scientists remains extremely important.
"More than 90 percent of potential drugs fail in clinical trials," says Rosen. "But if you don't bring new drugs into the pipeline, you won't find the ones that work."
Source: Florida International University
Product Locator: Spring and Early Mother's Day Gift Guide for Infection Prevention Personnel
March 27th 2024Whether it's a spring holiday, birthdays, or no reason at all, infection prevention personnel love to give and receive gifts that help at the end of a stressful day. Infection Control Today® offers some gift ideas for infection prevention personnel and their families.
Catching Up With Vangie Dennis, AORN 2022-2023 President at AORN 2024
March 26th 2024Infection Control Today (ICT) had the privilege of catching up with Vangie Dennis, MSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO, at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses' (AORN’s) International Surgical Conference & Expo 2024. As the former president of AORN and an esteemed figure in perioperative services, Vangie Dennis shared insights into her recent endeavors and the exciting new chapter she's embarked upon.
How To Optimize Your Time Management Strategies for the Busy Infection Preventionist
March 25th 2024Is your calendar resembling a chaotic masterpiece of overlapping tasks? Join the club of infection preventionists striving to balance responsibilities. Dive into proven strategies from a fellow infection preventionist to reclaim control of your time, streamline tasks, and boost productivity effectively. This is an IP Lifeline article.
CenTrak Unveils Revolutionary BLE Multi-Mode Platform for Health Care RTLS Solutions
March 22nd 2024CenTrak, the industry leader in real-time location technology, introduces the groundbreaking BLE Multi-Mode Platform, setting a new standard for Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) in health care. Discover how this innovative solution enhances location data precision and streamlines operations for health care organizations.