A study that provides a new interpretation of the failure of antibiotics in killing bacteria

Researchers at Basel University in Switzerland have challenged the prevailing idea that attributes the failure of antibiotic therapy to the presence of a small group of “inactive” bacteria, or “special resistance”, as the study showed that environmental conditions, such as lack of nutrients, are the main reason for the survival of bacteria. This study provides a new vision for the reason for the failure of antibiotics sometimes to understand bacterial infections; Instead of blaming a small group of inactive bacteria, the results indicate that environmental conditions, such as a lack of nutrients, are the most important factor that makes bacteria more resistant to drugs. This discovery can open the door for the development of more effective treatments, which restore the hope to combating difficult bacterial infections. Researchers have always believed that a small group of bacteria, known as ‘inactive bacteria’, are responsible for the failure of antibiotic therapy; These bacteria enter a temporary silence, enabling them to tolerate medication and survived for long periods. After the treatment has ended, these bacteria can wake up and relapse. Inactive bacteria are aimed at significant research efforts to develop new treatments aimed at these inactive bacteria, but the new study says that this idea can be “misleading”. In the study, published in the journal “Nature”, the effectiveness of antibiotics in mice with salmonella infection was analyzed, as well as in laboratory models that mimic body tissue. The researchers found that the vast majority of salmonella in the affected tissues were difficult to kill, not just a small group of inactive bacteria, and the opposite of the prevailing belief, the failure of antibiotics did not occur as a result of a small group of inactive bacteria. The study says that one of the main reasons is that a lack of nutrients in the affected tissues causes bacteria to grow very slowly. “It may look good at first, but it’s actually a problem because most antibiotics work better at fast -growing bacteria. If bacteria grow slowly, medication becomes less effective,” the researchers say. Innovative research techniques If the defense of the body reduces the availability of nutrients for bacteria, these bacteria come in slow growth, making them more resistant to antibiotics. Researchers believe that this mechanism also applies to other bacterial pathogens. The researchers used innovative techniques to monitor the effect of antibiotics on individual bacteria in the actual time. “We have shown that the majority of salmonella bacteria stay alive during the treatment for long periods, not just a small group of inactive bacteria,” says Joseph vanus. The problem lies in the traditional methods used for decades, which indirectly measure and measure the survival of bacteria, leading to misleading results, as a lantern explains that “traditional tests reduce the estimate of the number of surviving bacteria and give the wrong impression of the presence of small groups of many resistant bacteria.” These results can radically change the way we understand the failure of antibiotics and the development of new treatments; Instead of focusing on inactive bacteria, the study indicates the need to focus on the effect of nutrients to make bacteria more resistant to medicine. According to the researchers, this transformation in the approach can lead to the development of more effective treatments against difficult bacterial infections.