The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 remains one of the most important scientific advances of the modern era. In the space of a few years, many very dangerous infections have become relatively harmless, not to mention the fact that this antibiotic has also opened the door to surgical operations that would previously have been unthinkable due to the very high risk of fatal infection. A real public health revolution.
But as the illustrious microbiologist predicted, his discovery also marked the beginning of a great evolutionary standoff between humanity and bacteria. Since they reproduce immensely faster than complex organisms, the process of natural selection operates at a significantly higher rate. The few microorganisms that survived these new molecules therefore quickly gave rise to more resistant offspring, and this trend has only strengthened over the generations.
Our species was therefore forced to counterattack by developing new generation antibiotics… to which bacteria have also started to adapt. And so on. Researchers quickly realized that this vicious circle represented a major problem. Because if the adaptation potential of microorganisms is practically infinite, the same cannot be said of drugs. Pharmaceutical research is a slow and tedious process, and it is increasingly difficult to find new antibiotic agents that are effective and non-toxic for our species.
An Australian oyster to the rescue
Recently, a team from Southern Cross University, in the United States, identified a surprising avenue that could give our species a significant advantage in this evolutionary competition: it is hiding… in oysters.
If researchers have focused on these animals, it is because they are regularly exposed to significant concentrations of microorganisms from which they cannot escape, since they spend the vast majority of their lives fixed in the same place. Over the course of evolution, they have therefore acquired very effective immune defenses, in particular thanks to antiviral and antibacterial agents contained in their hemolymph (a transparent liquid which plays practically the same role as blood in mammals).
In their study published yesterday in the journal PLOS ONE and relayed on The Conversationthese researchers showed that certain proteins produced by Saccostrea glomerataa species of oyster native to Australia, were particularly effective against streptococci — bacteria known for their propensity to develop spectacular resistance to many classes of antibiotics. These proteins have also been shown to be capable ofinhibit biofilm formationan adhesive substance secreted by many species of bacteria to protect themselves from the immune system.
Spectacular results against resistant bacteria
This last point is particularly important. Indeed, this means that in addition to attacking problematic bacterial strains, these proteins are also capable of increasing the effectiveness of conventional treatments which are generally powerless against this defense strategy.
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The authors therefore tried to test the effectiveness of a host of antibiotics combined with Saccostrea glomerata hemolymph against different bacterial pathogens. And the results were quite spectacular: even at very low concentrations, these famous proteins multiplied the effectiveness of treatments by a factor ranging from x2 to x32, all without identifiable side effects!
The icing on the cake is that this strategy has proven to be particularly effective against Staphylococcus aureusthe famous Staphylococcus aureus — a “superbug” known for its incredible resistance to many antibiotics.
A pharmaceutical research area with high potential
Of course, it will be necessary to conduct additional studies and in particular clinical trials in real conditions to confirm the validity of these results. But the team still concluded that the hemolymph of Saccostrea glomerata presented great potential for the development of new antibacterial therapies.
It will be very interesting to follow the development of this work; In the medium term, it is possible that this species of oyster, cultivated in abundance in Oceania, will become a real star in the fight against superbugs.
The text of the study is available here.
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