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A new
class of antibiotics is offering treatment hope for some of
the world’s deadliest diseases. Bacterial infectious
diseases are responsible for a quarter of deaths worldwide,
and many are growing deadlier by developing resistant
strains to current antibiotics. However, new hope lies in
three recently discovered antibiotic compounds: myxopyronin,
corallopyronin, and ripostatin. Scientists say they block
RNA polymerase, which contributes to DNA replication and
protein synthesis. Specifically, two of the compounds --
myxopyronin and corallopyronin -- were found to be
protective against a broad range of diseases. For every
major bacterial pathogen, there is a resistant strain to at
least one available antibiotic. Some pathogens, like
tuberculosis (TB), have strains resistant to all
antibiotics. TB is carried by one in three people in the
world, but the two effective compounds are giving hope for a
new line of defense. When strains are not resistant, the
first choice of treatment for TB is a six- to nine-month
course of rifamycins. Researchers say the new antibiotics
would be powerful enough for the resistant strain and may
also reduce treatment to a period of just two weeks. “With a
six-month course of therapy for a disease that is largely
centered in the third world, the logistical problems of
administering therapy over space and time make eradication a
nonstarter,” the researcher explained. “If there were a
two-week course of therapy, the logistics would be
manageable, and the disease could be eradicated”, he added. |