Alligator blood 'may fight bugs'
Proteins isolated from alligator blood may lead to new antibiotics to treat "superbugs", such as MRSA.
Speaking at the American Chemical Society conference, US researchers said the discovery could also lead to treatments for severe burns and ulcers.
Alligators can suffer serious injuries during fierce territorial battles but heal quickly despite contact with bacteria, viruses and fungi.
Antibiotic resistance is on the rise yet there is a lack of new treatments.
Humans build up immunity to infection-causing organisms after coming into contact with them.
But, the Louisiana researchers said, previous work has shown alligators have a particularly strong immune system which can fight microorganisms such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria without being previously exposed to them.
The team collected blood samples from American alligators after injecting them with a substance to stimulate their immune systems.
They then isolated infection-fighting white blood cells and extracted antibiotic proteins.
In laboratory tests, tiny amounts of the protein extracts killed a wide range of bacteria, including MRSA.
The proteins also killed six out of eight different strains of Candida albicans - a yeast infection which can be a serious problem in people with weakened immune systems, such as Aids patients.
Future treatments
It is hoped the proteins can be used as a basis for new antibacterial and antiviral drugs to treat human infections.
The next step is to work out the exact chemical structure of the antibiotic proteins.
The researchers are also looking into the possibility of using the alligator proteins in developing treatments for HIV after showing white blood cells from alligators could destroy the virus in a Petri dish.
Biochemist Dr Mark Merchant, who has been looking into the antibiotic properties of alligator blood for the past four years, said the team was very excited about the potential for developing antibacterial and antifungal treatments.
"There's a real possibility that you could be treated with an alligator blood product one day."
He predicts creams made from alligator blood could be used for treatment of diabetic foot ulcers or to keep infections at bay in burn patients.
Dr Merchant has done similar work using Australian crocodiles.
Professor Paul Williams, an expert in microbiology at the University of Nottingham said most antibiotics in use today were developed a long time ago.
"We're basically running out so we need to develop new antibiotics.
"People are looking for peptides in frog skin and alligators, for example, to see if they are effective at reducing virulence, killing bacteria or improving the ability of the immune system to fight infection.
"But lots of them have never made it into the clinic."
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鳄鱼血液分离蛋白 有望对抗超级病菌
从鳄鱼血中提取的蛋白有可能产生新的抗生素，治疗“超级病菌”，如MRSA(耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌) .美国研究人员，在美国化学学会论坛上报道，这个发现也为治疗重度烧伤和溃疡产生新的方法。 鳄鱼之间在争夺地盘的凶狠搏斗中，会有严重创伤，但即使他们处在充满各种细菌，病毒，真菌环境中，伤中也会很快愈合。目前抗生素耐药性在上升，对此目前缺少新的治疗方法。 针对已经感染过的各种致炎生物有机体,人体能建交起免疫防御反应。但对鳄鱼, 即使以前并没有感染过,前期研究已经表明鳄鱼有非常强的免疫系统, 对抗各种微生物如：细菌，病毒，真菌，路易斯安那州的研究人员说.在注射一种物质刺激美国鳄鱼的免疫系统后， 研究小组收集他们的血液样本.然后他们分离对抗感染的白细胞，并提取抗生素蛋白。在实验室试验中，微量的这种蛋白提取物就能杀死各种细菌，包括MRSA。这种蛋白也能杀死8种白色念珠菌中的6种。白色念珠菌感染通常在免疫力低下的患者中发生，如AID病人中，会产生严重后果。
将来治疗
这种蛋白有希望用来作为新的抗细菌和抗病毒治疗人类的感染。 下一步是分析出这种抗生素蛋白的化学结构。研究者正在研究用鳄鱼蛋白来治疗HIV感染的可能性，因为已经发现在细菌培养皿中，鳄鱼白细胞也能破坏病毒。生化学家 Mark Merchant 博士，在过去的四年中一直致力于在鳄鱼血中寻找抗生素成分，对能发现潜在的抗生素和抗真菌的治疗药物非常兴奋。“有一天，你非常有可能用鳄鱼血产品来治疗”。他也预测可用鳄鱼血制成的软膏，可用来治疗糖尿病引起的足部溃疡，或保护烧伤患者创面的感染。Mark Merchant 博士也在澳洲鳄鱼上做了同样的研究。用的抗生素都是很早以前就开发出来的。我们已经几乎没有时间了，我们需要发现新的抗生素。人们正在青蛙皮肤和鳄鱼寻找各种肽，是否能有效的减少病毒感染，杀死细菌，或提高机体的免疫力对担各种感染。但他们中的大多数最终不能应用于临床。
