A New Approach to A Cure For Urinary Tract Infection
Photo courtesy of Urcomunicacion
Scientists are always looking for a better cure for urinary tract infections. A New Report out in the ACS’ Journal of Medicinal Chemistry about so-called FimH antagonists, which are non-antibiotic compounds, indicates this treatment would not contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance bacteria. It’s basically just a concentration on the same active ingredient that makes cranberrys effective in the fight against UTI’s or urinary tract infections- D-mannose, which is a sugar found in cranberrys.
Beat Ernst and colleagues explain that antibiotics are the mainstay treatment for UTIs. Bacteria, however, are developing resistance to common antibiotics, with the emergence of “superbugs” that shrug off some of the most powerful new antibiotics. Thus, the scientists decided to try a new approach — developing substances that target bacteria virulence factors, inhibiting them from sticking to the inside of the urinary bladder. Hence, microbes are not able to launch an infection and, furthermore, this new class of antimicrobials is expected to exhibit less selection pressure and, therefore, a reduced potential for the emergence of resistance.
The scientists describe the development of anti-adhesion molecules that specifically interfere with the attachment of bacteria to human bladder cells. The most potent of the substances, an indolinylphenyl mannoside, prevented a UTI from developing in mice (stand-ins for humans in this kind of experiment) for more than eight hours. In the in vivo treatment study, a very low dose of 25 µg per mouse reduced the amount of bacteria in the bladder of the animals by almost 10,000 times, which is comparable to the standard antibiotic treatment with ciprofloxacin.
For More information: You can go to “Antiadhesion Therapy for Urinary Tract Infections — A Balanced PK/PD Profile Proved To Be Key for Success” J. Med. Chem., 2012, 55 (10), pp 4700–4713. DOI: 10.1021/jm300192x.
What I found through a lot of trial and error was that there are many safe, natural ingredients you can use in combination as the best cure for urinary tract infection. You’re helping your body do it’s job. You just need a good plan to follow. If they succeed in making a safe, effective treatment for UTI, it will be a great thing. What typically happens however, when they try to isolate a particular active ingredient, they lose the rest of the components that make up the whole compound, that balance everything out to avoid side effects.
What do you think? Leave us a note about your experience here. If you’ve found a great cure for urinary tract infection tell us about it. We are never afraid to hear a better idea.
