4 days ago
IIT Roorkee, Norway team develops potential cure for antibiotic resistance
IIT Roorkee researchers have developed a new drug candidate that could help restore the effectiveness of a widely used antibiotic against hard-to-treat bacterial infections. The compound, called 3b, works with the antibiotic Meropenem to target KPC-2-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium identified by the World Health Organisation as a top-priority pathogen due to its high resistance to ROORKEE, NORWAY TEAM DEVELOP COMPOUND TO COMBAT ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCEThe study was led by Professor Ranjana Pathania from IIT Roorkee's Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, with Dr. Mangal Singh and Perwez Bakht, in collaboration with Professor Annette Bayer and her team from UiT Troms¸ in found that Compound 3b blocks the enzyme that enables the bacteria to break down antibiotics.
It is part of a class of drugs known as -lactamase inhibitors. Laboratory and animal model testing showed the compound to be safe for human cells and effective in combination with Meropenem in reducing bacterial load, including in lung infections.'This approach restores the antibiotic's activity, providing another option for treating resistant infections,' Professor Pathania KK Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, said the project reflects the institute's focus on addressing public health concerns through research and work, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, could guide future development of treatments for drug-resistant infections. If successful in further testing, Compound 3b may be used alongside existing antibiotics to slow the spread of resistance is a growing concern globally, with experts warning that common infections may become harder to treat. Developments like this aim to extend the usefulness of current antibiotics while new drugs are in development.- Ends
