Genetically modified bacteria could treat lung infections, reveals study

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infectionsconstitute an increasing danger and directly cause at least 1.27 million deaths annually. This highlights the urgent need for alternative treatments. According to a new study, intractable lung infections may now be treated using genetically modified bacteria.To combat the danger of antibiotic resistance, research in mice shows drug-resistant illnesses might be targeted and made susceptible to antibiotics that would otherwise be ineffective.

According to studies conducted at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, the bacteria-based treatment increased the survival rate of mice by two-folds compared to applying no treatment at all. No toxicity was visible in the lungs following the administration of a single, high dosage of the medication. The immune system eliminated the modified bacteria in four days after the course of therapy was complete.

Dr Maria Lluch at the International University of Catalonia explained the treatment as a “battering ram that lays siege to antibiotic-resistant bacteria”.

“The treatment punches holes in their cell walls, providing crucial entry points for antibiotics to invade and clear infections at their source,” said Lluch. “We believe this is a promising new strategy to address the leading cause of mortality in hospitals.”

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which may cause intractable infections because the bacteria create biofilms, was the focus of the most recent research. These have the ability to attach to body surfaces and create solid structures that are resistant to medicines.

In the study which was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, Mycoplasma pneumoniae was genetically modified to lose its capacity to spread disease and be utilised instead to manufacture toxins that would either kill or prevent the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Before beginning clinical trials, the research team intends to do more studies. They see nebulizers being used to give the treatment in the future, allowing the patient to breathe in a mist of germs. Biofilms can also grow on the surface of endotracheal tubes used by critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilators to breathe.

Up to one in four patients who need intubation are affected with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), which affects around half of those who need intubation owing to severe Covid-19. Up to one patient in eight dies from ventilator-associated pneumonia.

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