Possible target to treat bloodstream infections found

Researchers at UIC have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections. According to a study published in the journal "Critical Care Medicine," most bacterial pathogens can invade the bloodstream, which can lead to severe sepsis, a syndrome that kills about 215,000 of the 750,000 people affected in the United Sates each year.

Bacterial infections can be caused by a wide range of bacteria, resulting in mild to life-threatening illnesses, such as bacterial meningitis, that require immediate intervention. Hospitalized patients and those with chronic diseases are at especially high risk of bacterial infection. The most common bacterial infections include pneumonia, ear infections, diarrhea, urinary tract infections and skin disorders.

"The growth of bacterial pathogens in the blood represents one of the most dangerous stages of infection," said Alexander Mankin, professor and associate director of UIC's Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. "Before we can discover an antibiotic to treat bloodstream infections, we first have to discover which enzymes are essential for bacteria to live in the bloodstream." The major goal of this study was to identify genes that are critical for the survival and growth of bacteria in blood.

A graduate student in Mankin's laboratory, Shalaka Samant, infected human blood in a test tube with E. coli bacteria, a major cause of bloodstream infections in hospitalizes patients. By using a novel technique developed in Mankin's laboratory, Samant discovered that 19 E. coli mutants out of more than 4,000 she tested could not grow in blood. The majority of the mutants carried a deletion of a gene involved in making nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA and RNA.

"The result suggested that the biosynthesis nucleotides are crucial for the growth of the bacteria in human blood," Samant said.

Samant is now expanding her research to another bloodstream pathogen - Bacillus Anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax.

In relation to her research of Bacillus anthracis, Samant says, "There are few treatment options available for the late stages of anthrax infections. We found that, similar to E.coli, anthracis bacilli that could not biosynthesize nucleotides also were unable to grow in blood."

To add to Samant's study, a team of researchers led by Dr. James Cool, chief of infectious diseases, immunology and internal medicine at the UI Medical Center, showed Bacillus anthracis mutants that were unable to synthesize nucleotides were not able to infect mice. After they were infected with anthrax, the mice remained healthy, with no bacteria detected in their blood.

"The enzymes of nucleotide biosynthesis could make excellent antibiotic targets. The UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is now working to identify drugs that inhibit these enzymes," says Mankin.

Samant and Prof. Mankin's research continued the work begun by Alexander Nayfakh, a professor in the center who died in 2006. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.