14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center say that using a special form of vitamin B can help the immune system reject superbug infections more effectively. Superbug is the colloquial term used to describe an antibiotics-resistant microorganism.
These lifeforms are becoming a real problem, since they tend to be found in abundance in hospitals, primarily on surfaces that are usually sterilized. They cannot be easily destroyed through standard disinfection techniques, and tend to attack patients that are already very weak.
Once inside the body, they are able to develop biofilms that protect them against immune activity, which basically means that they can multiply and spread at will. Things have gotten so out of control that scientists are currently seeing superbugs as a threat to public health.
In a paper published in the September issue of the esteemed Journal of Clinical Investigation, the team reveals that high doses of the nicotinamide form of vitamin B3 act on a specific gene in the human genome, which controls the ability white blood cells have of fighting off staph infections.
The gene in question is known as CEBPE. When fully activated, it makes white cells much more efficient in combat, enabling the immune system to push back infections, at least temporarily.
Perhaps the best-known superbug is the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is invulnerable to all existing antibiotics. Its protective biofilm is extremely difficult to pierce through.
“It’s critical that we find novel antimicrobial approaches to treat infection and not rely so heavily on antibiotics. That’s why this discovery is so exciting,” expert George Liu, MD, PhD, explains, quoted by Science Blog.
“Our research indicates this common vitamin is potentially effective in fighting off and protecting against one of today’s most concerning public health threats,” adds the scientist, who was a co-senior author of the new study.
He holds an appointment as a pediatric infectious disease physician at Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center. The expert believes that indiscriminate antibiotics use in the general population is what allowed MRSA to become so resistant.
The good news stemming from this new study is that vitamin B3 is apparently able to increase white cell's staph-killing capabilities 1,000-fold. This raises new hope that novel treatments will be made available soon.