Antibiotics will make war on you: Researchers at the Hebrew University have developed antibiotics against bacteria resistant to antibiotics
Groundbreaking research by Dr. Zvi Hioka and his colleagues at the Institute of Biochemistry, Food Sciences and Nutrition in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University, resulted in the development of a unique antibiotic that is able to very effectively kill bacteria found to be particularly resistant to antibiotic treatment without damaging the storage cells.
The research, published in the prestigious chemical journal Angewandte Chemie, was defined as the most important research in the field of antibiotics. The researchers estimate that the findings of this study will help to develop new antibiotics and reduce mortality from infectious diseases in the future.
Due to the widespread use of antibiotics, many types of bacteria have developed resistance to them. This fact puts modern medicine in front of a major crisis in dealing with infectious diseases. Therefore, the development of new antibiotics is a challenge of utmost importance in researches dealing with the field. One of the first discoveries in understanding the ability of various organisms to defend themselves against bacteria was a "peptide" that was isolated from the skin of a frog and was found to protect against infections. Peptides are chains made of different amino acids that are building blocks for creating proteins in the human body. Today it is known that various organisms such as humans, plants, fungi and more naturally secrete various peptides with antimicrobial activity, which enable the organism to deal with bacteria, as part of the immune system.
A new generation of peptide-based antibiotics is currently being developed in the laboratory of Dr. Zvi Hioka from the Institute of Biochemistry, Food Sciences and Nutrition in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University. On the basis of the properties of the natural antimicrobial peptides, peptide mixtures were prepared that are all built from random repetitions of two amino acids that have the properties required for activity against bacteria, but differ from each other in the order of the amino acids in the chain.
The researchers were able to show that these substances kill many bacteria very effectively, including bacteria isolated from patients and found to be highly resistant to various antibiotics. In collaboration with Dr. Maxim Raidnov from the National Institute of Physics in England, the researchers were able to predict the mechanism of the antimicrobial activity of the peptides. It was found that the peptide mixtures perforate an artificial bacterial membrane in an organized manner by entering the membrane and creating pores. However, the substances also damaged red blood cells, which is a problematic finding because it is desirable for antibiotics to be safe for the storage cells.
After further research effort, the researchers saw that during a certain chemical modification of those peptide mixtures, the antimicrobial activity was preserved and the toxicity to the storage cells disappeared. That is, with the help of this chemical change, the researchers were able to design substances that only damage bacterial membranes without damaging the storage cells.
The study is unusual due to the nature of the antibiotics developed. The researchers estimate that these peptide mixtures represent a challenge for the development of resistance in bacteria. In addition, it is a ground-breaking ability of the researchers to see on an artificial bacterial membrane the mode of action of the developed materials.
The study was recently published in the prestigious chemical journal Angewandte Chemie and was defined as a very important study in the field of antibiotics. The researchers even estimate that the findings of this research have great potential for the development of new antibiotics and for helping to reduce mortality from infectious diseases.
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The problem with antibiotics is that they are used in agriculture in an uncontrolled way.
Cows and chickens are given tons of antibiotics not to cure them but to make them eat more and make them fatter.
I heard a lecture on the subject and the lecturer presented graphs of the development of resistance in bacteria compared to the amounts of agricultural use of the same antibiotic and the correlation proves that this is the main reason.
A cow has two stomachs, one of which is the fermentation stomach - this is a huge container in which the grass and everything a cow eats is suspended together with bacteria for a long time at an ideal temperature and humidity for bacteria (and especially pathogenic bacteria that like such a temperature that is close to the temperature of the human body) - that is, the cow has a huge fermenting spring in her stomach where all the bacteria meet together with antibiotics that the cow eats.
It is known that bacteria transfer genetic material to each other in a process called conjugation (a source of natural genetic engineering), so the bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics transfer these properties to other bacteria and everything then leaves behind and is released into the world's air...
Congratulations on the discovery, but the real solution is not the discovery of new antibiotic substances.
The reason is that just as the bacteria developed resistance to the old antibiotics, so they are quite likely to develop resistance, over time, to any new antibiotic.
The real solution is to change the antibiotic use policy, as was done in the Netherlands.
The reason that most helps bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics is that they are used too much.
The use of antibiotics should be reduced to a minimum. use it wisely and not by default. This is what will most help fight the bacteria's ability to develop resistance to it.
in the health of the patients
It is also possible that bacteria and other single-celled organisms that are essential in our bodies have developed resistance against antibiotics, and therefore they have survived and continue to take an essential part in the activities of our bodies. Therefore, whether the new medical preparation is open, which also harms the single-celled ones that survived due to their resistance to the "old" antibiotics, may harm the health of the patients. ?