Staphylococcus aureus WIKIMEDIA, NATHAN READINGIt may be possible to treat a type of bacterial infection with an antibiotic without disturbing the normal microbiota, according to a study published today (May 9) in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, have found that when administered orally at high does, a drug that targets Staphylococcus aureus called Debio1452 (formerly AFN-1252) has little impact on intestinal bacterial communities in mice.
“It’s a really exciting new way to target pathogens,” said Kristie Keeney, a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia, who was not involved in the work. Keeney said Debio1452 falls into a much-needed class of drugs that narrowly target gram-positive bacteria like multidrug-resistant S. aureus.
Historically, antibiotics have been designed to kill off many different species of bacteria, giving clinicians an efficient and inexpensive way to treat a range of infections. But these broad-spectrum drugs can wreak havoc on a patient’s gut microbiome. In the case of oral antibiotics, “the bacteria in the intestine get a huge dose,” said study coauthor Charles Rock, an infectious disease specialist at St. Jude.
Disrupting gut microbiota can lead to complications such as an overgrowth of resident species ...
