New Study: green tea extract EGCG can enhance the antibacterial effect of antibiotics
A new study published in the Journal of medical microbiology suggests that green tea extract EGCG, may be an effective weapon against drug-resistant superbugs.
A series of previous studies have shown that the antibiotic aztreonam has less and less effect on severe infection. When researchers from the University of Surrey combined aztreonam with green tea extract EGCG, they found that the antibacterial effect of aztreonam was 31% higher than that of antibiotics alone.
In this study, the researchers mainly focused on the inhibition effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the pathogens that induce serious respiratory tract infection and blood infection. In recent years, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is more and more resistant to its main antibiotic, aztreonam, and its medical effect is getting worse and worse. The researchers found that green tea extract EGCG can soften Pseudomonas aeruginosa, make antibiotics easier to penetrate and destroy bacteria, and improve the effect of antibiotics. The result of this experiment is that the reagent can be developed for daily treatment of patients.
green tea extract EGCG
According to Dr. Jonathan Betts, director of the research, antibiotic resistance of bacteria has become one of the most serious threats to human health. When bacteria get new DNA or have DNA mutation, they often produce antibiotic resistance. According to data released in the UK, about 5000 people die every year from antibiotic resistance of bacteria in the UK. Without effective antibiotics, human beings would be in mortal danger. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new antibiotics to resist antibiotic resistance. However, natural products such as green tea extract EGCG are equal to the current combination of antibiotics, which can be used as a way to improve the effectiveness and clinical cure.
Aztreonam
Aztreonam, a bactericide, was first found in the culture medium of Chromobacterium violaceum, a soil bacterium from New Jersey, USA in 1978, and has been synthesized. It can quickly pass through the outer membrane wall of gram negative aerobic bacteria and has high affinity for penicillin binding protein 3 (pbp-3). By acting on pbp-3, the synthesis of bacterial cell wall was inhibited, leading to cell lysis and death.
Aztreonam has a narrow antibacterial spectrum and only has antibacterial effect on Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, such as E.coli, Klebsiella, Serratia, Proteus mirabilis, proteus indole positive, Citrobacter, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other Pseudomonas, some Enterobacteriaceae, gonococcus, etc. This product is highly stable for β – lactamases produced by many bacteria. It has no activity to gram positive bacteria and anaerobic bacteria. Compared with ceftazidine and gentamicin, the effect of aztreonam on aerobacteria and Enterobacter cloacae was higher than that of ceftazidime, but lower than that of gentamicin; the effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa was lower than that of ceftazidine, which was similar to that of gentamicin. More Scientific research and development , please check here
