Treating recurring diseases, such as strep throat, with antibiotics kills only some of the bacteria

Scientists believe a subset of bacteria called persisters, which are distinct from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, go into a dormant state to evade antibiotics, then resurface and can trigger another infection.

Help treat recurring diseases with a spoon full of sugar

A study by U.S. researchers

Reported in the journal Nature, found adding sugar to antibiotics nudges persisters out of hibernation, making them easier to kill. Various sugars, including mannitol, fructose, and glucose, were combined with antibiotics and tested on Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Researchers found that more than 99% of persisters were killed when sugar was added to a class of antibiotics known as aminoglycosides, which includes gentamicin and kanamycin.

Sweetened aminoglycosides killed persisters grown in lab cultures and in mice with urinary-tract infections, as well as those on medical devices with thin layers of bacteria called biofilms.

Without sugar, aminoglycosides had no effect on persisters.

Adding sugar to aminoglycosides could improve the treatment of some chronic bacterial infections, researchers said.

While all the sugars tested killed E. coli bacteria, only fructose, when combined with aminoglycosides, killed Staphylococcus aureus.

Article Source: Metabolite-enabled eradication of bacterial persisters by aminoglycosides

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