14 DAY TRIAL // Preventing the death message from a surface molecule on bacteria that determines bone cells to die could be the new treatment for bone diseases that are resistant to antibiotics, said a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting, yesterday.
The research carried out by Dr. Steve Kerrigan from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, was presented by Ms Tania Claro, who stressed that the discovery could finally help cure and even prevent bone infections like those caused by Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
S. aureus has the ability to attach itself to bone cells thanks to a certain protein called Spa, that lives on the surface of the bacteria.
Once it is attached to the bone cell, it transmits signals that instruct the bone cell to die, thus causing a slow but certain loss of bone cells, which leads to gradual bone destruction and skeletal problems.
Ms Claro explained at the meeting that the research could lead to finding new therapies for osteomyelitis.
She said that “bacteria that do not have the Spa protein on their surface are unable to bind to bone cells, which prevents them from sending suicide messages.
“Blocking bacterial attachment to cells via Spa could therefore be a way of treating osteomyelitis, or even preventing it in the first place.”
Osteomyelitis is extremely painful disease and it is rather frustrating for both patient and doctor to see that currently, there is not much that can be done, except for prolonged aggressive antibiotic therapy, which is seldom effective and almost always followed by surgical removal of the dead tissues.
Ms Claro explained that this is why therapies that could prevent or even treat the disease would significantly ameliorate the quality of life of sufferers.
She added that treatments that do not rely on antibiotics would be advantageous because “the danger of invasive bacterial disease is compounded by the rapid emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria worldwide.
“The findings of this study will help develop better diagnostic tools and treatments for osteomyelitis that will not over-rely on antibiotics.”
Osteomyelitis or bone disease, affects 1 in 5,000 people around the world and it can occur at any stage in life and attack any bone in the body, leading to progressive bone destruction.
It is usually caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus that normally lives on human skin and in the nose, but can reach the bones through open wounds or during surgery, causing infections in people with weak immune systems.