Researchers develop new strategy to fight bacterial infections

Researchers Alvin Lo and Han Remaut of Flemish life sciences research institute VIB have discovered a chemical substance with the potential to be a new treatment against bacterial infections.

The researchers specifically targeted the E coli bacteria, responsible for about 80% of all urinary tract infections. Unlike the antibiotics prescribed for patients, this potential medicine would not destroy the bacteria, but disarm it. This new strategy has the advantage that it leaves other, useful bacteria untouched and also lowers the risk of the bacteria developing resistance.

In 2011, the VIB team was the first to understand how E coli bacteria develop hair-like structures with which they attach themselves to cells. By screening databases of chemical components, the researchers found a molecule that impedes this process. The strategy could also prove useful in the battle against other infectious diseases like food poisoning or diarrhoea.