IISER, CSIR-CDRI discover MDR-AB to combat HAI

About 1 in 10 people admitted to hospital contract a Hospital-Acquired Infection (HAI) that leads to morbidity, mortality, and treatment costs. Researchers of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, and Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), Lucknow, have discovered a potential new antibiotic against Acinetobacter baumannii, which frequently causes HAIs.

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) is responsible for a very high percentage of the HAIs worldwide due to its extreme survivability despite the presence of several disinfectants and antibiotics used for its treatment.

“Discovery and development of novel antibiotics against MDR-AB thus is an urgent, unmet medical need. Our team has identified heterocyclic iodonium compound to be potently active both in test tube and in experimental animals and are currently endeavouring for its further translation to the clinic,” informs Dr Harinath Chakrapani, the lead researcher.

Antibiotics have been a cornerstone for all highly sophisticated medical advances in the last 50-60 years. Carbapenems are broad-spectrum antibiotics that are effective against many types of bacteria, including bacteria resistant to many other antibiotics. However, Carbapenem-Resistant AB (CRAB) is a critical priority pathogen by World Health Organization (WHO).

The team has identified a novel potent antibiotic acting via a new mechanism against MDR-AB. This compound does not induce resistance and combines positively with amikacin, an already approved antibiotic, to eradicate the MDR-AB infection more effectively and faster than existing treatments.

“In order to achieve its full clinical potential, our team is dedicated to further translating it to meet the unmet clinical need of highly sick patients with MDR-AB infection,” Dr Chakrapani adds.

The multi-disciplinary team comprised Prof. Harinath Chakrapani and his graduate student Dr Pooja Kumari and Prof. Siddhesh Kamat at IISER, Pune and Dr Sidharth Chopra and his graduate students Dr Grace Kaul and Abdul Akhir at CSIR-CDRI. The study has been published in Microbiology Spectrum, American Society for Microbiology journal. Vigyan Prasar Science Portal