Antibiotic Combination Therapy Can Help Overcome Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infections

Highlights

Drug-resistant infection is a serious health problem in the world.
Antibiotic combination therapy can help to overcome deadly drug-resistant bacteria.
Combining Ceftazidime/avibactam along with aztreonam can help to defeat the drug-resistant infections.

By understanding the way the bacteria inactivates the penicillin antibiotics, will help to treat penicillin-resistant infections.

Beta-lactamases are enzymes that are capable of chopping up the antibiotics and make them ineffective. But however, a new group of bacterial beta-lactamases called Metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) are capable of destroying even the newest penicillins.

Drug Resistance – Antibiotic or Antimicrobial Resistance
Drug resistance is often a problem in malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and hospital acquired diseases. Judicious use of antibiotics can control the problem.

‘Antibiotic combination therapy is found to be extremely promising to doctors around the world for treating drug-resistant bacterial infections.’

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MBLs are made by bacteria which Is used alongside with enzymes which allow certain bacteria to destroy the entire penicillin group.

A research team from Cleveland, Ohio has found a new way of combining two different antibiotics together to destroy drug-resistant infections. These antibiotics are capable of destroying the enzyme secreted by bacteria.

When these antibiotics are combined, they may run interference for each other to fight against infections. This will be a new weapon to overcome pernicious infections which are caused by the deadly bacteria that is endemic to hospitals.

Test your Knowledge on Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health concern that has reached gigantic proportions. Antibiotic resistance is a change that occurs in bacteria when they are exposed to antibiotics used to treat infections caused by them. This change makes the antibiotics ineffective and the antibiotic-resistant bacteria become “superbugs”.

Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is responsible for about one-third of healthcare-associated infections in the United States. This may also kill nearly half of the victims, according to a study released by Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

The antibiotic drug combination therapy was found to be effective against 81% of CRE specimens. The studies are conducted under the leadership of Robert A. Bonomo, MD, Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Microbiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Chief of Medical Service at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Antibiotic Resistant Infections on the Rise Among US Children
Young people with antibiotic-resistant infections stayed in the hospital 20 percent longer than those whose infections could be addressed by antibiotics.

The strategy uses two antibiotic drugs that may protect each other from being neutralized by CRE’S problematic enzymes.

Ceftazidime/avibactam antibiotic found to be vulnerable to the neutralizing effect of metallo-beta lactamases.

Pentamidine Combination Drug Therapy May Treat Antibiotic Drug Resistance
Combination of Pentamidine drug along with other antibiotics may help in treating antibiotic drug resistance.

While, another drug aztreonam is vulnerable to other types of CRE enzymes and is neutralized by ceftazidime/avibactam.

When these antibiotics are combined, they defeat the drug-resistant infections.

Benefits of Antibiotic Combination Therapy
The new therapy may help doctors to overcome antibiotic neutralizing metallo-beta-lactamases.

Bonomo, explained, "aztreonam skirts around the metallo-beta-lactamase and hits its target--the penicillin-binding proteins."

The bacteria along with aztreonam when attached to the penicillin-binding proteins may build effective cell walls with the drug in a way and could quickly die.

Bonomo, also said, "If we understand the fundamental mechanisms by which bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, we can use what we know to help design better therapies."

The research team also demonstrated the antibiotic therapy to be effective in laboratory models. However, they were soon faced with patients who had no other treatment options.

The treatment was specifically used as a new regimen to treat young kidney transplant patients at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an elderly woman who received a hip at the University Hospitals.

These patients had various infections which were verged on fatal, yet survived the cutting edge treatment.

The drug is extremely promising for doctors around the world to treat patients with antibiotic-resistant infections. However, the combination approach still needs to go through clinical trials and they must undergo additional research to use as a commonly used treatment.

How to Prevent Drug-resistant Bacteria?

Infection control procedures must be carefully followed to minimize the spread of bacteria in the hospitals.
Maintain proper personal hygiene like washing hands properly to minimize the spread of the bacteria in the community.
Following a careful prescription of antibiotics will minimize the development of more antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.
Complete the entire course of antibiotics to avoid infections.

References

Michael J. Satlin, Liang Chen, Gopi Patel, Angela Gomez-Simmonds, Gregory Weston, Angela C. Kim, Susan K. Seo, Marnie E. Rosenthal, Steven J. Sperber, Stephen G. Jenkins, Camille L. Hamula, Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, Michael H. Levi, Bettina C. Fries, Yi-Wei Tang, Stefan Juretschko, Albert D. Rojtman, Tao Hong, Barun Mathema, Michael R. Jacobs, Thomas J. Walsh, Robert A. Bonomo, Barry N. Kreiswirth. Bacteremia due to Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE): A Multicenter Clinical and Molecular Epidemiologic Analysis in the Nation's Epicenter for CRE. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2017; DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02349-16
Antibiotic resistant bacteria - (https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria)

Source-Medindia