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New Weapon Against Persistant Bacterial Infections: Sugar

by Max Eddy | 1:01 pm, May 16th, 2011

For a few patients suffering from a bacterial infection, antibiotics simply won’t cut it. Some bacteria have developed multidrug tolerance, a clever defense against the best weapons doctors have to fight them. But a new study published in the journal Nature has shown that by simply adding sugar to a drug regimen, even the most persistant bacteria can be killed off.

The crux of an assault on bacteria is that they, like organisms, must eat to survive. When antibiotics are introduced, the bacteria consume the drugs and eventually die off. But some more wily bacterial invaders have learned to shut down their metabolic processes when their breathern start to die off. During this time, they don’t eat or reproduce. It could be compared to bears hibernating through the winter. These so-called persisters can remain dormant for months until finally waking up to reproduce once again.

To counter the persisters, researchers sought to trick the dormant bacteria into eating even while the antibiotic was still present in the patients. Bacteria feed mostly on sucrose and most persistant bacteria can’t resist it. Instead of shutting down and waiting for the antibiotics to wear off, they continue to feed on the sugar and take in the deadly medicine in the process. In one experiment, 99.9% of the persistant bacteria were killed off when sugar was used in conjunction with the antibiotic treatment.

This is good news to for patients with persistent infections, like staph, urinary tract infections, strep throat, and even tuberculosis. Hopefully this simple sweet trick will be saving lives, and keep patients on the road to recovery.

(via i09, image via Wikipedia)

  • Anonymous

     This is really delightful to read. Incurable monster bacteria is one of my biggest fears, right above nanotech apocalypse and right below robot uprising.

  • http://twitter.com/PestControlCtr Pest Control Center

    You need to have editors check you spelling.  The word you wanted was not breatheren it was brethren. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V5JYPP5FPXE34TC3XDWWYDCVLQ David B

    I’ve cut sugar out of my diet and havn’t had a MRSA outbreak in months 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V5JYPP5FPXE34TC3XDWWYDCVLQ David B

    I’ve cut sugar out of my diet and havn’t had a MRSA outbreak in months 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V5JYPP5FPXE34TC3XDWWYDCVLQ David B

    I’ve cut sugar out of my diet and havn’t had a MRSA outbreak in months 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V5JYPP5FPXE34TC3XDWWYDCVLQ David B

    I’ve cut sugar out of my diet and havn’t had a MRSA outbreak in months 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576570315 Yasmine Fathy Mohamed

    Sahla Khales ahy y3ny Bacteria dy betmoot by Sugar y3ny mfeesh kda b2a :)


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