NUNZIUM

Researchers have just caught bacteria sidestepping antibiotic treatment with a never-before-seen trick. Bacteria's talent for developing resistance against antibiotics is a rapidly growing health threat. This ability has ancient origins and allows drug-resistant bacterial infections like gonorrhoea to kill 1.3 million people globally yearly. Examples of strategies exploited by bacteria are: direct inactivation of the antibiotics, preventing drugs from accumulating in their system, and changing the antibiotic's targets, making them ineffective. Bacteria need their folates - a vitamin complex necessary for protein and DNA production - to develop and reproduce successfully. Some antibiotics block folate production to stop bacteria from growing and treat the infection. While investigating how a type of Streptococcus responds to antibiotics, Telethon Kids Institute microbiologist Kalindu Rodrigo and colleagues discovered a new mechanism for antibiotic evasion. Streptococcus commonly causes sore throats and skin infections but can also lead to systemic illnesses like scarlet fever and toxic shock syndrome. Scientists found a mechanism of resistance where, for the first time, the bacteria could take folates directly from its human host when blocked from producing their own. Streptococcus was acquiring folate, already processed, from outside its cells as these molecules are abundant in our bodies. The process completely bypasses the action of sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic that inhibits folate synthesis within the bacteria, thus rendering the drug ineffective. The discovery's extent may impact preclinical research for antibiotics treatments. Indeed, bacteria that succumb to antibiotics in laboratory tests, where alternative folate sources are unavailable, may still thrive in their hosts' bodies. This study implies that most methods today may be inadequate for detecting resistance to some antibiotics.