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A team of researchers at the University of Central Florida has discovered a potential new weapon in the fight against tuberculosis, and it lives in the Little Mermaid\u2019s realm.<\/p>\n
UCF graduate student Carolina Rodrigues Felix led the study in UCF Assistant Professor Kyle Rohde\u2019s lab. Through a partnership with Research Professor Amy Wright of the Florida Atlantic University\u2019s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, the team screened 4,400 chemical extracts derived from extracts of sponges and other marine organisms to see if they could kill the dormant tuberculosis bacteria. Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease that is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo our knowledge this is the largest marine natural product screening on TB and the only one that focused on dormant bacteria,\u201d Rohde said.<\/p>\n
The team identified 26 compounds that were active against replicating tuberculosis bacteria, 19 killed dormant bacteria including seven that were active against both.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were some that actually killed the dormant bacteria better than the replicating bacteria, which is a novelty,\u201d he said, \u201cas existing drugs are better at killing replicating bacteria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Findings of the study published in June in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which is published by the American Society of Microbiology. The National Institutes of Health funded the study.<\/p>\n
Tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs, is spread from person to person through the air. Globally, there are about 10.5 million new cases and about 1.5 million deaths reported each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest problems is the lack of effective treatments,\u201d Rohde said. \u201cTuberculosis is very difficult to treat and in most cases, takes six to nine months of taking at least four drugs daily. And most patients don\u2019t stick to their drug regimens for six to nine months because they have undesirable side effects, or they stop taking it when they feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuberculosis bacteria have thick cell walls that drugs have difficulty penetrating. The bacteria also express proteins that make it resistant to treatment. And the bacteria can hide within the immune system and become dormant, only to reappear after treatment ends. \u201cMost of the drugs we have only kill bacteria that are trying to replicate,\u201d he said, \u201cso we need drugs that can kill those dormant ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
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