New genes associated with antibiotic resistance have been discovered after a thorough analysis of thousands of strains of tuberculosis bacteria. These findings could be extremely important for the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis in the future as well as the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
Currently, tuberculosis (TB) can be prevented with a vaccine and, in the majority of instances, cured with pharmacological treatments over the course of six months. However, it continues to kill roughly 1.5 million people annually throughout the world, and we don’t want that figure to increase.
This is why the latest research, which represents the largest genome sequencing study of Mycobacterium TB to date, is so important. The risk of a tuberculosis strain that is resistant to treatment won’t go away any time soon.
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In one of their published publications, the researchers state that “this analysis indicates the possibility of extremely large-scale investigations to greatly expand our knowledge of genetic variations related with antibiotic resistance in M. tuberculosis.”
The scientists assembled 12,289 isolates from 23 countries, sequenced them, and subjected them to a range of antimicrobials often used to treat tuberculosis in the first of two trials. Of those, 2,129 were found to be resistant to the strongest medications or to a number of drugs, making up more than half of those who were determined to be drug-resistant.
The researchers discovered strains that were tolerant, if not resistant, to each of the 13 antimicrobials examined in a follow-up experiment based on 10,228 bacterial isolates.
The ideal dosage to employ or the most successful treatment options may be determined by identifying the thresholds at which medications begin to influence various strains.
The 20 most important genes that offered some level of resistance to the variations were discovered through additional study.
Now that specific genes have been discovered, researchers may investigate how they can contribute to antibiotic resistance in tuberculosis. Any strain of tuberculosis should be treatable with the new knowledge.
In one of their published articles, the researchers state that “the data compendium is totally open source and it is hoped that it will enable and inspire future research for years to come.”
This study is a component of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) effort to enhance tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment procedures internationally. There is much more that can be done; for instance, less than half of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases are currently recorded.
Scientists must learn more about these cases and the strains responsible for them if antibiotic resistance is to be stopped. The research, according to the scientists, is especially crucial for comprehending the impacts of so-called novel and repurposed medicines (NRDs), which have recently been created to combat the condition.
Currently, the method utilized to discover resistant strains is universal drug susceptibility testing, however this procedure needs to be carried out under extremely controlled settings for several weeks. The genetic analysis used in this case looks to be much more successful.
Here and here are two papers from PLOS Biology that describe the research.
