New kind of substances inhibits viruses and bacteria

A new class of substances is effective against both the AIDS pathogen, HIV, and antibiotics-resistant MRSA bacteria. These two pathogensoften occur together. Scientists hope that it may be possible to control them with a single drug in the future. Scientists of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) developed so-called dual agents that inhibit the growth of both types of pathogens. They describe their findings in the renowned Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. The HIPS is the Saarbrücken branch of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), which has its headquarters in Braunschweig. It was founded jointly by the HZI and Saarland University in 2009. The human immunodeficiency virus HIV is one of the most dangerous and widespreadpathogens throughout the world. Some 37 million people are host to the virus and 1.2 million were killed by this disease in 2014 alone. Meanwhile, both the proliferation of the pathogen and the progression of the disease can be halted through a combination therapy, but the viruses show an increasing trend to develop resistance and no longer respond to the medications used against them. The notorious MRSA bacteria, i.e. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, show similar persistence as many common antibiotics have become ineffective. HIV patients, whose immune systemhas already been weakened by the disease, are often additionally afflicted by MRSA pathogens. These co-infections are very problematic and difficult to treat. “Resistance to the common therapies is quite widespread amongst both the viruses and the MRSA bacteria, which means that the co-infection is very difficult to control,” explains HZI scientist Prof Rolf Hartmann, who is the head of the “Drug Design and Optimization” department at the HIPS. “In addition, it is necessary to carefully consider the interactions between the medications given to the patients.”See it on Scoop.it, via Virology and Bioinformatics from Virology.ca
New kind of substances inhibits viruses and bacteria
Source: Viral Bioinformatics