As scientists worry more and more about the bacteria resistance to the main antibiotics, German bacteriologists from the University of Tübingen have just brought a glimmer of hope during the EuroScience open forum which took place in Manchester (Great Britain) earlier this week.
They claim to have discovered a new bacterium capable of fighting resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Called Staphylococcus lugdunensis, it is usually well sheltered in our nostrils. It is also in glanders that bacteriologists went to find it before studying its ability to produce an antibiotic.
The latest discovery of a new antibiotic dates back 30 years
If confirmed by other studies, this discovery would be really remarkable because it has been more than 30 years since we have not discovered a new antibiotic.
For their research, bacteriologists collected more than 90 samples of bacteria from human nasal passages and tested different species of this variety of bacteria. They applied Staphylococcus lugdunensis bacteria to the skin lesions of mice that had previously been infected with Staphylococcus aureus. They then found a “spectacular reduction” colonization of lesions by the pathogenic bacteria. Some mice even recovered completely. Scientists found that Staphylococcus lugdunensis penetrated the outermost layers of diseased tissue and worked on the deeper layers to clear the infection.
Of course, some unknowns remain. And in particular that which consists in knowing if this new bacterium is completely harmless or if it is likely to cause diseases itself. Bacteriologists will therefore continue their research.
Their study was published in the journal Nature.
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