The ability of pathogenic bacteria to form a biofilm is associated with the high resistance of these microorganisms to treatment, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net When bacteria are resistant to antibiotics, the task of doctors is even more complicated.

Now a team of researchers from Canada has found that a small protein molecule can prevent the formation of bacterial biofilms and make microbes more sensitive to drugs..

Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver have found that a peptide known as 1018 overcomes the resistance of many bacterial species that are resistant to traditional treatments.. They announced their discovery on the pages of the online publication PLOS Pathogens..

“Our entire arsenal [of antibiotics] is slowly losing its effectiveness, and this is a huge problem for medicine,” writes study lead author Bob Hancock, professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at UBC, describing how antibiotic resistance in bacteria is becoming increasingly common..

Biofilms are highly structured communities of bacteria that can form on living surfaces such as human skin, lungs, or heart, as well as non-living media such as medical instruments.. The authors claim that such biofilms are responsible for 65% of all human bacterial infections..

In their study, Professor Hancock and his colleagues demonstrated how the 1018 peptide, consisting of only 12 amino acids, is able to destroy biofilms and prevent their further formation..

Bacteria are traditionally classified into Gram-positive and Gram-negative (Gram stain) based on the structure of their cell wall.. Different types of bacteria tend to be sensitive to different groups of antibiotics..

Peptide 1018 destroys biofilms of major resistant bacteria The study showed that peptide 1018 destroys biofilms formed by both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms, including the most important antibiotic-resistant strains - MRSA, E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These pathogens are especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems..

Antibiotics are the most successful drugs on the planet. The decline in the effectiveness of antibiotics will lead to enormous problems with surgery, certain types of chemotherapy, organ transplants, and even minor interventions,” says Professor Hancock..

The professor and his colleagues say that their results represent "

By the way, not so long ago, Western publications reported on another study in this area.. Studying antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria could be key to defeating resistant 'superbugs', scientists find. It turned out that the genome of many soil bacteria contains various resistance genes, but, unlike our pathogens, they cannot share these genes so easily, because they are far from the “movable elements” of DNA.. Geneticists are already trying to use this discovery to fight resistant strains..

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