Substances from the body of perches will help defeat superbugs

The use of substances produced by the organism of the sea bass may allow the return to clinical practice of antibiotics to which bacteria have already formed resistance, Russian scientists have found.

The activity of the Epi-1 peptide, which is produced by the cells of the orange-spotted sea bass, was studied at the Stavropol State Medical University. Also included in the study was hBD-3, which is produced by human epithelial cells.

The researchers infected laboratory mice with a lethal dose of bacteria and injected them with peptides in various combinations, including along with an antibiotic from the carbapenem group, a drug popular for fighting bacteria.

“By itself, a “solo” antibiotic could not cure animals, since mice were infected with strains of bacteria resistant to this drug,” said Albert Bolatchiev, head of the study, an employee of the Stavropol State Medical University. “We were faced with the task of evaluating how the combination “human peptide + antibiotic” works in comparison with hBD-3 in monotherapy (when only one drug is used. – Izvestia), an antibiotic in monotherapy and a combination of two peptides from perch and a human” .

Five days after infection, all animals in the control group died, the same thing happened with mice that received only an antibiotic. But 63% of rodents that received a single injection of hBD-3 survived. Slightly more mice escaped death through the simultaneous administration of substances from the human and fish bodies, as well as when using a combination of a peptide and an antibiotic.

Based on the results of the experiments, the scientists concluded that the use of antimicrobial peptides can make bacteria again sensitive to classical antibiotics.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

In a quiet perch: how fish can help defeat superbugs