MRSA-Killing Drugs From Cockroach, Locust Brains?

[RamboLiberal]

-----

Powerful chemicals in the brains and nervous systems of the lowly cockroach, as well as the swarming locust, can lay waste to antibiotic-resistant staph and dangerous forms of E. coli bacteria, fueling hope that they might be the basis of new antibiotics to replace those rendered useless against these infectious species, according to British researchers.

Simon Lee, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, has focused his work on potential antimicrobial compounds from insects. He and his colleagues found up to nine different antibacterial molecules in cockroach and locust brains and nervous system tissues that did not damage human cells, he reported Tuesday at the fall meeting of the Society for General Microbiology, Europe's largest microbiology society.

"We hope that these molecules could eventually be developed into new treatments for E. coli and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections that are increasingly resistant to current drugs," Lee said. They could potentially provide alternatives to the shrinking arsenal of effective antibiotics, with their "serious and unwanted side effects."

Lee, whose research is sponsored by the university and the U.K. Ministry of Defense, describes insects as "a relatively untapped source of pharmaceutical drug-leads," on his Web page at the University of Nottingham.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/roach-locust-brains-hold-key-superbug-antibiotics/story?id=11577962

[pscot]

1. A cockroach a day

keeps e-coli away. Catchy.

[corpseratemedia]

2. For once,

the thought of cockroaches crawling all over my body doesn't..no it still completely disgusts me..but hey, finally, they're good for *fighting* illnesses!!

[zazen]

3. do test subjects suddenly start darting around furniture and doorways?

[trotsky]

4. Only when the lights are turned on. n/t

[whathehell]

5. Could this be why they survived the Ice Age?

[Shallah Kali]

6. heh. Marijuana also has chemicals active against MRSA

personally i would rather injected with extracts or whatever of that than bug brains or even synthasized bug brains. bugs ewwwwwwwwwww!


Cannabis plant extracts can effectively fight drug-resistant bacteria.
Scientists Say Substances Derived From Cannabis Could Outdo Conventional Antibiotics In Killing Some Bacteria

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5787866&page=1


Substances harvested from cannabis plants could soon outshine conventional antibiotics in the escalating battle against drug-resistant bacteria. The compounds, called cannabinoids, appear to be unaffected by the mechanism that superbugs like MRSA use to evade existing antibiotics. Scientists from Italy and the United Kingdom, who published their research in the Journal of Natural Products last month, say that cannabis-based creams could also be developed to treat persistent skin infections.

Cannabis has long been known to have antibacterial properties and was studied in the 1950s as a treatment for tuberculosis and other diseases. But research into using cannabis as an antibiotic has been limited by poor knowledge of the plant's active ingredients and by the controversy surrounding its use as a recreational drug.

snip

But when Appendino, Gibbons, and their colleagues applied extracts from five major cannabinoids to bacterial cultures of six strains of MRSA, they discovered that the cannabinoids were as effective at killing the bugs as vancomycin and other antibiotics.

[jgraz]

7. So we've finally found a way for Karl Rove to contribute to society.

:thumbsup: