BUFFALO, N.Y. - The golden age of antibiotics may be drawing to a close.
The recent discovery of E. coli carrying mcr-1 and ndm-5 -- genes that make the bacterium immune to last-resort antibiotics -- has left clinicians without an effective means of treatment for the superbug.
But in a new study, University at Buffalo researchers have assembled a team of three antibiotics that, together, are capable of eradicating the deadly bacterium. The groundbreaking research was recently published in mBio, a journal for the American Society of Microbiology.
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The researchers found that a novel combination of aztreonam, amikacin and polymyxin B -- a last-resort antibiotic -- was able to kill E. coli carrying mcr-1 and ndm-5 genes within 24 hours while also preventing regrowth. Traditional combinations of these antibiotics were unable to kill the E. coli and resulted in rapid resistance.
"The threat of gram-negative bacteria, including E. coli carrying mcr-1, is worrisome," says Zackery Bulman, PharmD, first author on the study, a graduate and former postdoctoral fellow at the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences who is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.
"We believe that the appearance of mcr-1 and ndm-5 in patients may be a harbinger for what is to come. The golden era of antibiotics isn't over yet, but we wanted to help clinicians prepare therapeutically for the occurrence of these strains."
Brian Tsuji, PharmD, principal investigator and associate professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, continued: "That is why the mcr-1 and ndm-5 strains represent an urgent threat, because of the high-degree of resistance combined with the potential for rapid spread in the community setting. We had to work quickly and think outside of the box, beyond traditional antibiotic combinations."
"This is the first study to propose therapeutic solutions with three drugs against superbugs harboring mcr-1 and ndm-5. The results will help prepare clinicians for future occurrences of these pathogens."
Fewer than two dozen cases of E. coli carrying mcr-1 have been reported in the U.S. However, with additional cases reported worldwide, the bacteria's immunity to available antibiotics has left the medical community vulnerable to a massive outbreak of infections.
The rapid increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria has resurrected the importance of polymyxins, a class of antibiotics that are effective but employed as a last resort because of the damage they can cause to the kidneys.
