One of the most prevalent problems existing in the fight against bacterial infections is their ability to develop a resistance to antibiotics. For long term patients, this means multiple changes to new antibiotics each time the bacteria develop a resistance. The main issue with this is when the point is reached that there are no new antibiotics. Researchers are dedicated to continually finding new medications for fighting infections, but a discovery has been made that may make the need for this redundant. Scientists at New York University have examined the effect of antibiotics on bacteria and discovered that antibiotics compel bacteria produce charged particles which damage their DNA and lead to their eventual death. Unfortunately, the bacteria are also able to produce nitric oxide which protects them from the particles and leads to the resistance to antibiotics.

The possibility of reducing the resistance to antibiotics comes from the exploration of compounds to act as inhibitors to the enzymes involved in the production of nitric oxide. Due to the fact that bacteria use nitric oxide to protect themselves against a range of antibiotics, the discovery of effective nitric oxide synthase inhibitors would be extremely beneficial to society. Hindering the resistance of bacteria could save the many thousands of lives which could possibly be lost to drug-resistant bacteria.

Article Source : Steenhuysen, Julie 2009, 'Study exposes how bacteria resist antibiotics', News Daily, Article, Sep 10, Science Daily, [Online], Available: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5895rz-us-bacteria-antibiotics/#

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