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   Jul 21

Could CRANBERRIES form the basis for new antibiotics?

Compounds known as flavonols in cranberries can prevent E.coli infection

E.coli can trigger urinary tract infections, as well as food poisoning

Hopes findings will provide new area of focus for drug developers

Compounds in cranberry juice could form the basis for new antibiotics, after scientists discovered they can block bacterial infections.

New research suggests the vibrant red berry could open a new area of focus for drug developers.

The compounds in questions, flavonols, were found to greatly reduce the ability of E.coli bacteria to trigger an infection.

Professor Terri Camesano, from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, said: ‘With the emergence of new superbugs that are resistant to current antibiotics, our hope is to better understand the mechanisms of bacterial infection so we can identify potential new antibiotic drug targets.’

Compounds in cranberries, known as flavonols, prevent E.coli bacteria from triggering an infection, experts have discovered. They hope their findings will provide a new area of focus for drug developers

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least two million Americans are infected each year with drug-resistant bacteria, while some 23,000 die from those infections.

In order to cause an infection, bacteria must first adhere to a host and accumulate in sufficient numbers to form a biofilm.

The researchers found that the flavonols in cranberry juice helped to prevent E.coli from sticking to a surface.

E.coli, while often linked with food poisoning, comes in various strains and is responsible for many types of infection, including urinary tract infections.

Previous work by Professor Camesano and her colleague Professor Catherine Neto, has found that a group of compounds called proanthocyanidins (PACs) likely play a role in cranberry juice’s ability to block bacterial adhesion.

In this new piece of research, they used advanced chemical techniques to separate cranberry juice into its constituent chemical compounds, in order to characterize them.

The researchers then cultured E.coli cells in samples of the separated juice, and used an atomic force microscope to measure the bacteria’s ability to bond to a surface.

The authors wrote: ‘This study is the first to combine an assay-guided fractionation approach with atomic force microscopy to identify cranberry juice constitutents that most strongly influence E.coli adhesion forces.’

After the first round of testing, samples that showed the greated ability to reduce E.coli infection were further separated.

The process went on for a number of cycles, further reducing the number of compounds in each sample.

E.coli, pictured, while often linked with food poisoning, comes in various strains and is responsible for many types of infection, including urinary tract infections

This allowed researchers to home in on the key chemicals that prevent the bacteria from sticking together and forming the biofilm.

The tests concluded that flavonol galatosides showed the strongest results.

Professor Neto said: ‘Like the PACs, we think the flavonols are part of the plant’s defense system.

‘They are secondary metabolites that are produced in greater concentrations when the plant is under stress or in the presence of pathogens.’

The results build on previously published studies, in which Professor Camesano and her team showed that cranberry juice compresses the tiny tendrils on the surface of E.coli bacteria.

It is these tendrils that allow the bacteria to bind tightly to the lining of the urinary tract.

The change in shape greatly reduces the ability of the bacteria to stay put long enough to trigger an infection.

Flavonols are also likely to affect the ability of the tendrils to bind to surfaces, but in a different way, Professor Camesano noted.

The authors wrote: ‘This strongly suggests the anti-adhesive role of other classes of cranberry compounds in conjunction with already known PACs may have implications for development of alternative antibacterial treatments.

‘These compounds should be further explored, both individually and in combination for their antimicrobial properties against various bacterial diseases [to] give us a therapeutic edge against these ‘superbugs.’

The findings are published in The Royal Society of Chemistry journal Food & Nutrition.

Source: Daily Mail

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