Battling with bugs to prevent antibiotic resistance

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

New scientific research published today in the journal PLoS Biology shows that bacteria can evolve resistance more quickly when stronger antibiotics are used.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and Kiel University in Germany treated E. coli with different combinations of antibiotics in laboratory experiments.

Unexpectedly they found that the rate of evolution of antibiotic resistance speeds up when potent treatments are given because resistant bacterial cells flourish most during the most aggressive therapies.

This happens because too potent a treatment eliminates the non-resistant cells, creating a lack of competition that allows resistant bacteria to multiply quickly. Those cells go on to create copies of resistance genes that help them rapidly reduce the effectiveness of the drugs. In tests this effect could even cause E.coli to grow fastest in the most aggressive antibiotic treatments.

In addition to evolution experiments, the results of this Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) funded research were confirmed using mathematical models and whole-genome sequencing of resistant and non-resistant E. coli.

Professor Robert Beardmore, EPSRC Research Fellow from the University of Exeter said: "We were surprised by how quickly the bacteria evolved resistance. We nearly stopped the experiments because we didn't think some of the treatments should be losing potency that fast, sometimes within a day. But we now know that the bacteria remaining after the initial treatment have duplicated specific areas of their genome containing large numbers of resistance genes. These gene copies appear more quickly when the antibiotics are combined, resulting in the rapid evolution of very resistant bacteria.

"Designing new treatments to prevent antibiotic resistance is not easy, as this research shows, and governments may need to increase their funding for antibiotics research if scientists are to be able to keep pace with the rapid evolution of bacterial pathogens that cause disease."

Dr Rafael Pena-Miller from Biosciences at the University of Exeter said: "The evidence that combining antibiotics to make a more potent therapy can lead to the creation of more copies of the genes the bacteria needs to be resistant is of real concern."

Professor Hinrich Schulenberg from Kiel University in Germany said: "The interesting thing is that the bacteria don't just make copies of the genes they need. Just in case, they copy other genes as well, increasing resistance to antibiotics the cells weren't even treated with."

About 440 000 new cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis emerge annually, causing around 150 000 deaths. Statistics like this recently lead the Department of Health to state that antibiotic resistance poses one of the greatest threats to human health.

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University of Exeter: http://www.exeter.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Exeter for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127870/Battling_with_bugs_to_prevent_antibiotic_resistance

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EU governments ease Syria sanctions on oil to help rebels

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union governments agreed on Monday to ease sanctions on Syria to allow for purchases of crude from the opposition, in hopes of throwing a financial lifeline to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

The decision, taken at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, will allow European importers to buy oil from Syria, if authorized by an opposition umbrella grouping.

The sanctions were first imposed in 2011 in response to Assad's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Two years later, the conflict is largely a stalemate, and an estimated 70,000 people have died.

"Anything that can help more resources to be available to people affected by the crisis of course is welcome," EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, Kristalina Georgieva, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting.

Buying Syrian crude will be complicated, because of security concerns and battered infrastructure, but officials said more financial help would be offered.

"It is important for us to send a signal that we are open to helping in other ways, in all the ways possible, including ways adding to the finances (of the opposition)," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters as he arrived for Monday's meeting.

(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft; Editing by Adrian Croft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-governments-ease-syria-sanctions-oil-help-rebels-142019533.html

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Food price hikes raise concerns in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian newspapers warn that a new wave of price hikes could stir greater discontent less than two months before presidential elections.

The press commentaries also suggest disputes within Iran's ruling system over how to cope with an economy battered by international sanctions imposed because of Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

Monday's reports include the influential conservative daily Kayhan, which often supports the policies of the ruling clerics.

Prices of staples such as cooking oil, chicken and red meat have jumped up to 60 percent in recent days after authorities increased the special exchange rate for importers. Businesses now pay 24,500 rials for $1, nearly double from the 12,260 rials before.

Iranians will vote June 14 to elect President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's successor. There are concerns about possible unrest over Iran's sinking economy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/food-price-hikes-raise-concerns-073126753.html

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Taliban attacks kill 9 people in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Insurgents shot six police officers dead at a checkpoint and a suicide bomber killed three civilians at a shopping bazaar in two attacks in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday.

The attacks came during a surge in hostilities as Afghanistan's spring fighting season begins. This year's is being closely watched because Afghan forces must operate with less support from the international military coalition. With foreign forces due to hand over combat responsibilities to the local forces next year, the current fighting is a test of their ability to take on the country's insurgency.

Reflecting the surge in violence, the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office reported Sunday that insurgent-initiated attacks increased by 47 percent during the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year. The U.S.-led NATO coalition has stopped releasing statistics on insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said the Afghan army carried out 2,209 military operations during a monthlong period ending Sunday. During that time, 467 insurgents and 107 soldiers were killed, and 362 militants were arrested, the ministry said in a report issued Sunday.

April has been the deadliest month this year for security forces and Afghan and foreign civilians. According to an Associated Press tally, 222 people have been killed in violence around the nation this month, including Sunday's nine fatalities.

The Taliban assault on the checkpoint came early Sunday in the Dayak district of Ghazni province, killing six police officers, wounding one and leaving one missing, said Col. Mohammad Hussain, Ghazni's deputy police chief. One of many Afghan local police forces was running the checkpoint. The forces are recruited at the village level to protect their townships from insurgents and other fighters, including criminals. The local forces are nominally under the control of the Afghan Interior Ministry.

On Friday, Taliban insurgents attacked a local police checkpoint in Andar, a district of Ghazni province neighboring Dayak. They killed 13 officers, according to Sidiq Sidiqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman.

The second Sunday attack hit Paktika province, which borders Ghazni. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a shopping bazaar around midday, killing three people and wounding five civilians and two police officers, said Mokhlis Afghan, the spokesman for the provincial governor. Among the dead was Asanullah Sadat, who stepped down as the district's governor two years ago.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for Taliban, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. In an email to reporters, he said Taliban used the bomber to target Sadat because of his close relations with the Afghan government and the U.S.

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AP writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

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Online: The ANSO report: www.ngosafety.org

___

Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-attacks-kill-9-people-afghanistan-120103968.html

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Friends, family seek word on runners

CHICAGO (AP) ? Far-flung family members, co-workers and friends frantically used social media, cellphones and even a "people finder" website Monday to try to learn the fate of participants and spectators at the Boston Marathon, where two people were killed and dozens injured after a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of one of the world's great races.

The search was made more difficult because heavy cellphone use caused slow and delayed service. In an age connected by everything digital, the hours after the blasts produced a tense silence.

At the race, 51-year-old Julie Jeske of Bismarck, N.D., had finished about 15 minutes before the explosions and was getting food about two blocks away when she heard two loud booms. She immediately tried to call her parents, but could not place the call. A friend was able to post on Facebook that they were OK, but reaching her parents was another worry.

"I wasn't able to call and I felt so bad," Jeske said. "When I was finally able to reach them, my mom said she was just absolutely beside herself with fear."

Tim Apuzzo of Seattle said he spent an agonizing 10 minutes frantically trying to call his girlfriend, Quinn Schweizer, who was watching the marathon with her friends at the finish line. But when he kept getting a recording saying there was no service, he started to worry "because you know you have a group of people in this generation all wired in ... and quick to respond."

Finally, she was able to call him to say she was safe and that her group had left the finish line just minutes before the blast to walk to a cafe for lunch.

Google stepped in to help family and friends of runners find their loved ones, setting up a site called Google Person Finder that allows users to enter the name of a person they're looking for or enter information about someone who was there. A few hours after the explosion, the site indicated it was tracking 3,600 records.

Mary Beth Aasen of Shorewood, Wis., and her husband were using an app to track their daughter Maggie's progress along the marathon route. They didn't realize anything was wrong until a worried friend texted Aasen and asked if Maggie was OK.

The app indicated that Maggie was still moving, a relief for her parents. Mary Beth Aasen tried in vain to call her daughter for about 30 minutes before Maggie called her.

"When I talked to her she was pretty upset," Aasen said. "Physically she said she felt great but she was upset because she hadn't been in contact with her friends."

Aasen said she was waiting for Maggie to call her back with an update, but knew cellphone service was slow in the area.

"I just feel terrible for the people who haven't been in contact with their family and friends who are there," she said. "I'm praying for everyone who hasn't heard yet."

David Meixelsperger, who owns the Berkeley Running Company in Madison, Wis., finished the race about 90 minutes before the explosion. He sent an email to customers of his store and friends in the running community letting everyone know he was safe, but that he couldn't send or receive calls on his cellphone.

"At this time, all Berkeley Runners and Customers are safe," he said in the email. "We have been texting each other to seek out their whereabouts."

Kim Hauser, a substitute teacher in the Chicago area, did not know about the explosions until her students went home and she got a chance to look at her phone. There were messages from acquaintances asking, "'Is your brother OK?" She searched the news and it dawned on her why they were asking.

"I tried to call him immediately, but there was no cell service," the Frankfort, Ill., woman said. "I waited anxiously by the phone. I just felt horrible. I had a hard time holding myself together."

Five minutes became 10, then 20 ? finally, 45 minutes later she looked down to see a text from her brother, Thomas Wiora. He had crossed the finish line shortly before the explosion and was 120 yards away when it went off. But he was fine.

"I was relieved," she said. "But the whole thing was so heartbreaking."

Mary Butler of Oklahoma City hadn't been able to reach her husband, Jason Butler, who was running with his son, brother and other family members. But she said he'd posted on Facebook that he and the others were OK.

"That's all I know about it," Mary Butler said, adding she'd been trying to call since she'd first heard of the explosions. "I'm just waiting ? keep trying to call."

She declined to talk further so that she could keep her phone line open.

___

Online: http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions/

___

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh; Kristi Eaton in Sioux Falls, N.D.; Dan Holtmeyer in Oklahoma City; David Mercer in Champaign, Ill.; Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee; Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/loved-ones-seek-word-boston-runners-blast-225431691--spt.html

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Clinical trials for cellulite treatment on the horizon

Apr. 16, 2013 ? Projected to start in the second half of 2013, researchers at Stony Brook University plan to begin phase IIa placebo-controlled clinical trials using a drug treatment method developed here to treat cellulite. The treatment method is licensed to BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. ("BSTC"), sublicensed to Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ("Auxilium"), and uses clostridial collagenase histolyticum ("CCH"), an injectable form of the enzyme collagenase.

To date, there has been no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for cellulite, which is the normal fat beneath the skin that pushes against connective tissue (collagen) anchoring strands, causing a dimpled effect on the skin above it. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, up to 90 percent of women and 10 percent of men -- millions of people worldwide -- have cellulite.

Marie A. Badalamente, PhD, Professor Orthopaedics, and Alexander B. Dagum, MD, Professor of Surgery and Orthopaedics, Interim Chair of Surgery and Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, are planning to be investigators in the pending trials. Their collaboration has led to the development of a collagenase injection method aimed at treating cellulite. The injection is designed to break down collagen that anchors cellulite dimples and, consequently, even out skin irregularities caused by the cellulite. They hope that their bench-to-bedside research will result in the first medically based effective and FDA approved treatment.

"We are looking for a standard and safe method of treating cellulite and one that can be effective for a long period of time," said Dr.Badalamente, who explained that current approaches, such as laser therapy, massage treatments or topical creams show limited evidence of significantly reducing cellulite.

"While cellulite isn't harmful, it is a serious cosmetic concern for many people who want to feel better about their appearance and who want to reduce cellulite as much as possible," said Dr. Dagum. "There are many methods to remove cellulite but few have been supported in medical literature to be effective or potentially usable as a standard practice."

In 2006 the researchers obtained an investigational new drug number from the FDA for CCH in the treatment of cellulite. They subsequently completed a phase I pilot clinical trial of 10 women treated at Stony Brook for cellulite.

Participants received CCH injections based on an assessment of cellulite on the back of their thighs. The area of cellulite was quantified in centimeters with photo documentation. On average, there was a 77 percent reduction of cellulite as soon as one day after the injection. After six months, the patients had on average a 76 percent reduction of cellulite in the injected area. Only minimal side effects were reported, such as, bruising, soreness and mild edema, shortly after the injection. After six months, the patients reported an average satisfaction score of 1.75 (1=completely satisfied, 4=not satisfied).

"We believe that a significant reduction of cellulite after six months from an injection that appears to be well-tolerated is promising for patients and warrants continued testing within the FDA regulatory process," said Dr. Badalamente, summarizing their pilot study. She emphasized the overall study results were indicators of potential proof of concept for CCH efficacy and safety in treating cellulite.

The results of the study and additional evaluation of CCH by Auxilium prompted the company to expand the field of its license for CCH in January 2013 to include the potential treatment of adults with cellulite. Auxilium is currently licensed to market and distribute XIAFLEX? (an FDA-approved version of CCH) to treat adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord, a debilitating hand disorder and is under FDA review for the potential treatment of Peyronie's disease.

Auxilium is responsible for the research, development and potential use of CCH for the treatment of cellulite. This includes the development of clinical trials. Should a formulation of CCH receive FDA approval for this new indication, Auxilium will also be responsible for the commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution of CCH for the treatment of cellulite.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/H00mm4J94oY/130416144618.htm

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