Bacteria associated with Crohn’s disease rely on multiple stress responses to survive, multiply, and tolerate antibiotics within white blood cells called macrophages, according to a study published November 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Olivier Espéli of the College de France and PSL Research University in Paris, France, and colleagues. Crohn’s disease is […]
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Research: Chloroquine makes tuberculosis bacteria more susceptible to other antimalarial drugs
A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, both in India, have found that the antimalarial drug chloroquine can make the tuberculosis bacteria more sensitive to other antimalarial drugs. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes their study of the […]
Hospital disinfectants struggling to kill C. diff bacteria colonies
The deadly and notoriously stubborn superbug, Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), is putting up a winning fight against hospital-grade disinfectants meant to kill it, according to results of a new study published in the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The C. diff bacterium causes inflammation of the colon with symptoms […]
Gut bacteria ‘fingerprint’ predicts radiotherapy side effects
Scientists have conducted the first clinical study to show a link between types of gut bacteria and radiotherapy-induced gut damage. Taking a ‘fingerprint’ of the mix of bacteria in the gut can indicate how susceptible individual cancer patients are to gut damage as a result of radiotherapy for prostate and gynaecological cancers, the new study […]
Salmonella causing bloodstream infections in central Africa resistant to nearly all drugs
The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of Salmonella typhimurium, a pathogen which is responsible for millions of bloodstream infections per year in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Drug-resistance has increased in successive groups of S. typhimurium over time. These new strains are resistant to all but one of […]
‘Death Star’ bacterial structures that inject proteins can be tapped to deliver drugs
By scraping tubeworms off the bottom of boats in the San Diego harbor to study them, San Diego State University researchers discovered that a beneficial bacterium that aids them in establishing colonies could also be a boon for human health, because the same process might already take place in the human gut. By examining this […]
Bacteria in pneumonia attack using bleaching agent
Research shows that bacteria use hydrogen peroxide to weaken the immune system and cause pneumonia. This according to a study at Umeå University and Stockholm University, Sweden. Hydrogen peroxide is also known as a bleaching agent that is used to whiten teeth or hair, as a stain remover, as well as for cleaning surfaces and […]
Study finds way to disarm dangerous bacteria
In Australia, more than 10,000 patients a year acquire a serious bacterial infection called Clostridioides difficile, often while in hospital, resulting in the death of up to 300 people per year. The Centers for Disease Control in the United States (US) call C. difficile a major health threat causing half a million infections and 15,000 […]
Precision editing of gut bacteria reduces cancer in mice
UT Southwestern researchers have shown that precision editing of the bacterial populations in the gut reduces inflammation-associated colorectal cancer in mice. The study published this week by the Journal of Experimental Medicine could lay the groundwork for novel cancer prevention strategies for individuals with chronic intestinal inflammation. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects more than 1.6 […]
3D printed pill samples gut microbiome to aid diagnosis and treatment
A research team led by Tufts University engineers has developed a 3D printed pill that samples bacteria found in the gut — known as the microbiome — as it passes through the gastrointestinal tract (GI). The ability to profile bacterial species inhabiting the gut could have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions […]