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【drug-news】鳄鱼血有可能成为抗生素的新来源
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
Mon Apr 7, 7:02 PM ET
MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a case of gator aid. New research suggests that alligator blood could serve as the basis for new antibiotics targeting infections caused by ulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."
The research is in its early stages -- extracts of alligator blood have only been tested in the laboratory -- and there's no guarantee that it will work in humans. Still, the findings are promising, researchers said.
"We need new antibiotics. Anything like this is a step forward," said Dr. Stuart Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, who's an expert in antibiotic-resistant infections and is familiar with the new study. "But there are hurdles that this kind of antibiotic poses that others might not."
The study authors, from McNeese State University and Louisiana State University, said their research is the first to take an in-depth look at alligator blood's prospects as an antibiotic source. According to the researchers, alligators can automatically fight germs such as bacteria and viruses without having been exposed to them before launching a defense.
For the study, the researchers extracted proteins known as peptides from white cells in alligator blood. As in humans, white cells are part of the alligator's immune system. The researchers then exposed various types of bacteria to the protein extracts and watched to see what happened.
In laboratory tests, tiny amounts of these protein extracts killed a so-called "superbug" called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The bacteria has made headlines in recent years because of its killing power in hospitals and its spread among athletes and others outside of hospitals.
The extracts also killed six of eight strains of a fungus known as Candida albicans, which causes a condition known as thrush, and other diseases that can kill people with weakened immune systems.
The researchers, who presented their findings April6 at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, said the blood extract could be used to develop an antibiotic in a topical cream form. They suggest that it could be called "alligacin."
Levy said the human body might reject alligator proteins, thinking they're foreign invaders. "Our bodies love to make antibodies to proteins," he said. "After you get the first dose, the body sees it as foreign, and the next dose gets scooped up by the immune system, and it's done."
But study lead author Lancia Darville, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., said scientists might be able to create drugs that copy the blood proteins once they figure out their structure. The idea would be to make a chemical that the body doesn't think is a protein. Even so, Darville said, "it is not easy to mimic any antimicrobial peptide for clinical use."
Levy noted that many pharmaceutical companies have stopped investigating new antibiotics, because other areas of medicine are more profitable. The gap "has to be filled by more discovery," said Levy, who's also president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics.
The study authors said alligator blood could become a drug source for humans within a decade.
Still, Emily Ackiss, a clinical epidemiologist at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, Calif., who's familiar with the study findings, said, "The research discussed in this article is basic research. More extensive research and experimentation are needed before drug development could be expected."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080407/hl_hsn/gatorbloodmaybenewsourceofantibiotics;_ylt=AoOrAWcvkfTEB5TfCffE0Du3j7AB 本人已认领该文编译，48小时后若未提交译文，请其他战友自由认领 Gator Blood May Be New Source of Antibiotics
鳄鱼血有可能成为抗生素的新来源
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
Mon Apr 7, 7:02 PM ET
由Randy Dotinga 健康日报记者所写
星期一 4月7日 晚上7:02
MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a case of gator aid. New research suggests that alligator blood could serve as the basis for new antibiotics targeting infections caused by ulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."
4月7日星期一（健康日报新闻）—— 把它叫做鳄鱼援助的事例，新的研究表明：鳄鱼血液可以作为新的抗生素对的溃疡，烧伤引起的感染，甚至具有耐药性的"超级细菌"有效。
The research is in its early stages -- extracts of alligator blood have only been tested in the laboratory -- and there's no guarantee that it will work in humans. Still, the findings are promising, researchers said.
这项研究还只是处于早期阶段。鳄鱼血的提取物只是在实验室经过测试 ，并没有保证它将对人类有效。尽管如此，研究人员说这个发现是大有希望的。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-12-06 05:11
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