While bacterial infections with E. coli are still rife, sometimes with serious consequences, two promising new bacteria have just been discovered in Arctic waters.
Antibiotics have been a real medical breakthrough that still save lives. They prevent surgical procedures or simple wounds from degenerating into infections. However, their use, sometimes excessive, has given rise to bacterial resistance with sometimes serious consequences, particularly in hospitals.
Some bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant, making it difficult to treat them, while research is stalled for lack of new antibiotics.
However, it would appear that the Arctic hides bacterial strains capable of offering new antibiotic solutions. At least, these are the conclusions of a study published on August 30 in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
To achieve these results, researchers from the University of Helsinki and the Arctic University of Norway set off for the coast of Svalbard in August 2020. Aboard the Norwegian research vessel Kronprins Haakon, they collected invertebrates from seawater and isolated the bacteria they carried. The findings were promising: “We discovered a compound that inhibits the virulence of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) without affecting its growth, and a growth-inhibiting compound, both found in actinobacteria from the Arctic Ocean,” said Dr. Päivi Tammela, co-author of the study and professor at the University of Helsinki’s Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, in a press release dated August 30.
Short for Escherichia coli, this elongated bacterium is regularly responsible for infections of varying degrees of severity, and is a sore point in hospitals.
Naturally present in the intestinal microbiota of humans and animals, the vast majority of E. coli strains are harmless in 95% of cases. Throughout our lives, it evolves within our gut flora and is the dominant bacterial species, even playing a beneficial role in supporting our immune system.
However, this bacterium, a star in scientific research (easy to cultivate in laboratories and the subject of numerous studies), has a dark side. Around 5% of E. coli strains are pathogenic and can cause life-threatening infections.
While most infections resolve on their own, they can sometimes progress into a more severe form known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). For the most vulnerable individuals, this can be fatal.
In particular, the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) strain causes bloody diarrhoea and can attack the kidneys. Due to its dangerous nature, authorities and manufacturers regularly recall food products when it is detected.
In hospitals, it is responsible for almost a quarter of nosocomial infections, and is transmitted during routine medical procedures such as intubation or catheterization.
Antibiotics are not used in treatment because their action causes E. coli to release more toxins. As a result, medical management primarily focuses on stabilizing the patient’s condition while exploring solutions to reduce the bacteria’s virulence and promote healing.
And that’s precisely where T091-5 and T160-2 might offer solutions. Initial tests suggest that these compounds exhibit strong antivirulence effects.
Bacterial infections are primarily treated with antibiotics derived from actinobacteria, also known as actinomycetes, which are typically found in soil. However, many natural environments remain unexplored in the search for new strains of actinomycetes.
The polar regions thus offer a possible reservoir of as yet unknown bacteria or organic compounds capable of providing medical answers. In recent years, potential treatments have been discovered using polar organisms, such as an Antarctic marine fungus with potential action on pancreatic cancer.
Mirjana Binggeli, Polar Journal AG
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