Lipids in multi resistant bacteria

Article by Henri Deda  – Communications Officer at Lipotype
The full article was first published on https://www.lipotype.com, and you can read the original article here

Summary

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a multi resistant bacterium
• Lipidomics proved the role of lipid metabolism in the bacterium’s antibiotics resistance
• Disturbing lipid metabolism increased impact of antibiotics

THE discovery and description of the first antibiotic compound in 1928 was a milestone in pharma research, and the development of further antibiotics helped modern medicine thrive and flourish. Antibiotics prevent infections from spreading and help the immune system fight off invading pathogens like bacteria. Their wide-spread use comes with a downside: many bacteria evolved strategies to resist antibiotics thus rendering them ineffective.

While there are alternative and safe antibiotics for most of these resistant pathogens, over time, some bacteria developed resistances to multiple antibiotics or are naturally multi resistant. Thus, medical doctors and researchers are worried about the advancing number of cases involving multi resistant bacteria as such infections are difficult or even impossible to treat.

Besides using antibiotics mindfully to slow down the adaption process of bacteria, and developing new antibiotics, scientists are increasingly exploring a third approach: They are looking for ways to make multi resistant bacteria susceptible to already existing antibiotics (again).

Projection of deaths from antimicrobial resistance: multi resistant pathogens are believed to become the leading cause of death by 2050.
Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, UK Department of Health (2016), www.amr-review.org

Breaking antimicrobial resistance mechanisms is a task easier said than done. An approach to accomplish that goal might lie in disturbing bacterial lipid metabolism, a target which many existing antibiotics are addressing, too. A team of researchers led by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research applied global lipidomics analysis to investigate the molecular lipid composition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a wide-spread bacterium that can cause diseases like pneumonia, septic shock and other hospital-acquired infections.

The multi resistant bacterium P. aeruginosa is equipped with high natural antibiotic resistance and is known to develop further resistances during therapy making it extraordinarily difficult to overcome. P. aeruginosa is a particular threat to immunocompromised patients and individuals with cystic fibrosis are often affected by a persistent infection with the multi resistant bacteria. Continue reading here