Smart RNA Targeting Could Be the Solution for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Researchers have found a small regulatory RNA that can be found in most problematic bacterias such as E.coli and may be responsible for the responsible management of the bacteria to environmental stresses.

Researchers from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique believe that recent findings are a promising avenue for addressing the global threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Why Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria is a Problem

(Photo Karolina Grabowska by Pexel)

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotics are a class of medication that are used to prevent and treat various bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance, therefore, occurs when the bacterias being fought change their response to the medication used.

Contrary to popular belief, bacteria become antibiotic-resistant and not animals or humans. The bacterias then infect animals and humans; the infections become much harder to treat than non-resistant bacteria.

Antibiotic resistance, a global emerging health issue, leads to higher medical costs. Increased mortality rates and prolonged stays in hospitals.

WHO emphasizes that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are reaching dangerously high levels across the globe. New resistance mechanisms are rapidly emerging and spreading, threatening man's ability to treat various common infectious diseases.

A long list of growing infections, suck as tuberculosis, pneumonia, blood poisoning, foodborne diseases, and gonorrhea, are becoming harder and harder, nearly impossible, to treat as antibiotics are becoming less and less effective.

In areas where antibiotics can be easily bought both for humans and animals without a prescription, the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance are worse. Likewise, in countries with no standard treatment guidelines, antibiotics are usually over-prescribed by health workers and veterinarians and are further over-used by the public.

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RNA Targeting: A New Avenue in Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

In a study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, entitled "The RyfA small RNA regulates oxidative and osmotic stress responses and virulence in uropathogenic Escherichia coli," researchers observed that eliminating regulatory RNA sequences had quantifiable effects on urinary tract infections related to Escherichia coli or E.coli. These types of infections are among the most common in the world, especially in women; however, they can be harder to treat due to the bacteria's antibiotic resistance.

E.coli is often found in the intestinal flora, which then migrates to the bladder, where conditions are completely different. The bacteria must withstand various environmental stressors to cause bladder infections. Doctoral students explain that without the regulatory RNA, the bacteria become more sensitive to environmental changes and loses their capacity to infect.

Researchers tried inhibiting the RNA sequence by blocking the RNA and making the bacteria fewer infections, especially for cases of chronic infections that often lead to increased resistance to various treatments.

The team explains that if the bacteria become less resistant to stress, it becomes more vulnerable to the body's immune response. Adding that patients with recurrent UTI regularly take antibiotics which leads to resistance and limits the options of treatment. This is primarily why it's vital for researchers to find alternative solutions to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are plaguing the globe ScienceDaily reports.