Bacteria known as Streptomyces (see images above) are the source of the majority of important antibiotics used in medicine today. These drugs have revolutionised the treatment of infectious disease since their introduction into clinical practice in the 1940s.
Recently, the World Health Organisation has warned of a “post-antibiotic era”, where people could die from simple infections that have been treatable for decades. This is because some disease-causing bacteria have evolved to become resistant to most currently used antibiotics, for example MRSA.
BBSRC investment inStreptomyces research since the 1960s has had a huge impact on our understanding and development of antibiotics, and scientists at the BBSRC-funded John Innes Centre are among those now using this knowledge to help discover and develop the new antibiotics needed to counter the threat of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics strong enough to kill off gut bacteria can also stop the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, a section of the brain associated with memory, reports a study in mice published May 19 in Cell Reports. Researchers also uncovered a clue to why– a type of white blood cell seems to act as a communicator between the brain, the immune system, and the gut.
“We found prolonged antibiotic treatment might impact brain function,” says senior author Susanne Asu Wolf of the Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany. “But probiotics and exercise can balance brain plasticity and should be considered as a real treatment option.”
Wolf first saw clues that the immune system could influence the health and growth of brain cells through research into T cells nearly 10 years ago. But there were few studies that found a link from the brain to the immune system and back to the gut.
In the new study, the researchers gave a group of mice enough antibiotics for them to become nearly free of intestinal microbes. Compared to untreated mice, the mice who lost their healthy gut bacteria performed worse in memory tests and showed a loss of neurogenesis (new brain cells) in a section of their hippocampus that typically produces new brain cells throughout an individual’s lifetime. At the same time that the mice experienced memory and neurogenesis loss, the research team detected a lower level of white blood cells (specifically monocytes) marked with Ly6Chi in the brain, blood, and bone marrow. So researchers tested whether it was indeed the Ly6Chi monocytes behind the changes in neurogenesis and memory.
In another experiment, the research team compared untreated mice to mice that had healthy gut bacteria levels but low levels of Ly6Chi either due to genetics or due to treatment with antibodies that target Ly6Chi cells. In both cases, mice with low Ly6Chi levels showed the same memory and neurogenesis deficits as mice in the other experiment who had lost gut bacteria. Furthermore, if the researchers replaced the Ly6Chi levels in mice treated with antibiotics, then memory and neurogenesis improved.
“For us it was impressive to find these Ly6Chi cells that travel from the periphery to the brain, and if there’s something wrong in the microbiome, Ly6Chi acts as a communicating cell,” says Wolf.
Luckily, the adverse side effects of the antibiotics could be reversed. Mice who received probiotics or who exercised on a wheel after receiving antibiotics regained memory and neurogenesis. “The magnitude of the action of probiotics on Ly6Chi cells, neurogenesis, and cognition impressed me,” she says.
But one result in the experiment raised more questions about the gut’s bacteria and the link between Ly6Chi and the brain. While probiotics helped the mice regain memory, fecal transplants to restore a healthy gut bacteria did not have an effect.
“It was surprising that the normal fecal transplant recovered the broad gut bacteria, but did not recover neurogenesis,” says Wolf. “This might be a hint towards direct effects of antibiotics on neurogenesis without using the detour through the gut. To decipher this we might treat germ free mice without gut flora with antibiotics and see what is different.”
In the future, researchers also hope to see more clinical trials investigating whether probiotic treatments will improve symptoms in patients with neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.“We could measure the outcome in mood, psychiatric symptoms, microbiome composition and immune cell function before and after probiotic treatment,” says Wolf.
#Lastnight was so difficult I coughed most of the night my stomach was upset from the #antibiotics and I was so tired from #coughing it took me 40 minutes just to get out of my bed to go to the bathroom. I was feeling so sad because I really didn’t feel like I should be out of the #hospital although, #singingworshipsongs in my head and #praying a lot I got through it and was able to go to sleep at 5:30 this morning. Today I opened some mail and to my surprise there was all this beautiful @kyliecosmetics #makeup sent from two #clients for Christmas that I have read for many years but I’ve never actually met in person. I’m so touched by the #generosity and #kindness and #thoughtfulness. They said that They wanted me to have new makeup to start year off right ,I also got a beautiful gift card from another client that I also have never met in person but I’ve known for many years and a whole collection of beautiful greeting cards because I mentioned that Christmas cards make me happy and I still haven’t figured out who sent the greeting cards . Thank you from the bottom of my heart it brings me to tears because you have no idea what it’s like to feel so sick and alone in the middle of the night and today I feel so loved and #grateful I cannot wait to feel better to create with all this makeup to hopefully continue to inspire everyone the best I can! #pneumoniasucks #cancersucks #cancerwarrior #nevergiveup #makeupismypassion https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWDz6gBp_v/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n7i4kqovmijd
Osteomyeltis of the femur, as a result of scarlet fever
Osteomyelitis is an intensely painful, often disastrous infection of the bone, which can have grave consequences. This case was the sequelae of a case of scarlet fever (a body-wide rash caused by strep throat), and resulted in amputation of the limb. This patient survived, but a large percentage of patients did not. Prior to antibiotics, many who contracted osteomyelitis (due to scarlet fever or other reasons) developed severe bacteremia(bacteria in the bloodstream), which often progressed to sepsisanddeath.
Think you have strep throat? See a doctor!
An American Text-Book of Surgery, for Practitioners and Students. Ed. William W. Keen & J. William White, 1899.
On February 25, 2019 The NJ Assembly unanimously voted in favor of designating an Official State Microbe, Streptomyces griseus. This brings NJ one step closer to being the second state in the US (and the world) to have a symbolic microbe.
This action sequence shows me (seated) casting the vote for Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (standing) in the Assembly Chamber. Wow, that was cool, and an honor! ASW Quijano was the principal sponsor in the Assembly. The vote was 76 to zero.
Strep griseus produces streptomycin, the first broad spectrum antibiotic and the first significant antibiotic found in America. It was discovered in 1943 in New Brunswick, NJ
The NJ Microbe had another milestone when the Assembly Science, Innovation, and Technology all voted in favor of the bill.
Thank you to all the people from around the world who contacted the legislators on behalf of the microbe.Thank you to the Assembly members who voted for it and all the bill’s sponsors.
NJ Assembly legislation A3650 will be heard before the Science and Technology Committee on Monday Sept 17. It’s taken a lot of work to get it to this stage. Thank all of you who helped!
And, you can get the world’s most entertaining science book on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/Warhol-Small-Guide It costs less than a burger and a Coke, it lasts longer, and is more fun!
We have been getting a lot of positive press and electronic media following the unanimous vote of the New Jersey Senate on July 27. It’s nice to see an article in an actual newspaper! This ran in the Sunday Asbury Park Press on page 2 on July 29, 2018.
The legislation to establish an official microbe for New Jersey is set for a Senate vote on July 16, 2018. We had a unanimous “Yes” in the last legislative cycle, let’s hope for a repeat tomorrow!
On June 14, the NJ Senate State Government. Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee voted Yes unanimously on S1729, which names Streptomyces griseus as the State Microbe of New Jersey. This is another big step in becoming the first state after Oregon to have an official microbe, and an excellent way of acknowledging the great science that’s been done in NJ.
BeforeRingo Starr was the drummer for The Beatles, he was Richard Starkey, a kid from Liverpool. Born in 1940, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1952 and was hospitalized for two years.
The only treatments available at the time were: bed rest (95% mortality); streptomycin monotherapy; combination therapy with streptomycin and para-aminosalicyclic acid; and triple therapy with streptomycin, para-aminosalicyclic acid, and isoniazid.
It’s reasonable to assume that streptomycin, the antibiotic produced by Streptomyces griseus (discovered in New Jersey), was an important part of Ringo’s survival. His career with The Beatles, and his contributions to rock n roll music, would not have been possible without Streptomyces griseus, The New Jersey State Microbe.
First a warning, this post includes content of a sexual nature, reader discretion advised.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) should be on the on the forefront of the minds of all expats living kick-ass sexually active lives in China, although we don’t always like to think about it when things start to get hot and heavy. It’s always been risky sleeping around the Middle Kingdom, but lately it…
Five years ago, Mary Millard went to the hospital for heart surgery. A contaminated medical instrument gave her an infection that led to septic shock. Her heart struggled, and her lungs and kidneys started to fail.
“What I caught was pseudomonas, and it’s a very virulent superbug,” says the 60-year-old former nurse who lives in Baton Rouge, La. This bacterium no longer responds to most antibiotics, and “it lives in you permanently, so I’m on lifetime antibiotics,” she says.
Her doctor prescribed one of the most powerful antibiotics available, and there is no clear backup for her if that stops working. “It’s kind of a wait-and-see. And that’s what’s scary.”
Millard is just one of about 2 million Americans who have been infected with a superbug. Tens of thousands die each year, and the numbers are vastly higher on a global scale.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a major new report about antibiotic resistant germs on Wednesday.
This year’s Longitude Prize is focused on the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria. They’ve put together a nice image, shown here, which showcases what they term ‘the ten most dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria’. You can read more detail on each of them here:http://www.nesta.org.uk/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria
The prize offers a £10 million prize fund for the development of a cheap, accurate, and easy to use bacterial infection test kit, which will allow doctors to prescribe the correct antibiotics at the correct time for patients, to try to help minimise the development of antibiotic resistance.
Bacteria may Demonstrate any of Five General Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance: 1. Lack of entry; Decreased cell permeability. 2. Greater exit; Active efflux. 3. Enzymatic inactivation of the antibiotic. 4. Altered target; Modification of drug receptor site. 5. Synthesis of resistant metabolic pathway.
More than HIV, more than malaria. The death toll worldwide from bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in 2019 exceeded 1.2 million people, according to a new study.
In terms of preventable deaths, 1.27 million people could have been saved if drug-resistant infections were replaced with infections susceptible to current antibiotics. Furthermore, 4.95 million fewer people would have died if drug-resistant infections were replaced by no infections, researchers estimated.
