Breast milk protein complex helps reverse antibiotic resistance

[vanlassie]

This is BIG news.

Using a protein complex found in breast milk, researchers force drug-resistant 'superbugs' including MRSA to respond to antibiotics again

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uab-bmp042513.php

A protein complex found in human breast milk can help reverse the antibiotic resistance of bacterial species that cause dangerous pneumonia and staph infections, according to new University at Buffalo research.

In petri dish and animal experiments, the protein complex — called Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumor Cells (HAMLET) — increased bacteria's sensitivity to multiple classes of antibiotics, such as penicillin and erythromycin.

The effect was so pronounced that bacteria including penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) regained sensitivity to the antibiotics they were previously able to beat, said researchers Anders Hakansson, PhD, Laura Marks, and Hazeline Hakansson, PhD, all in UB's Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

HAMLET's effects against S. pneumoniae were published in the journal PLOS ONE in August 2012 with Marks, Anders Hakansson and UB PhD student Emily Clementi as authors. HAMLET's effects on S. aureus will appear in PLOS ONE on May 1 at 5 p.m., and this press release is embargoed until that time. A graphic to illustrate this story is available at http://ubnews.smugmug.com/2013/hamlet-protein/.

"HAMLET has the potential minimize the concentrations of antibiotics we need to use to fight infections, and enable us to use well-established antibiotics against resistant strains again," said Anders Hakansson, lead researcher and a UB assistant professor of microbiology and immunology who has long been interested in the protective effect of breast-feeding against infections.

The findings hold great promise in an era when hospitals are struggling to contain drug-resistant "superbugs" like MRSA, the culprit behind lethal hospital-acquired staph infections.

Bacteria seem to have difficulty developing resistance to HAMLET, dying in huge numbers even after being exposed to HAMLET for many generations.

[SunSeeker]

1. And babies on breast milk have stronger immune systems to begin with.

So they don't need as much antibiotics in the first place--which alone tamps down on antibiotic-resistant bugs.

[uponit7771]

6. +1

[Ilsa]

2. Can this protein complex be genetically engineered?

Can it be copied to use directly against infection?

Does ingesting it provide extensive protection in fighting drug-resistant bugs?

Several times a decade, something else about human milk is discovered that shows how it is the perfect infant food, providing years of health benefits. My suspicion is that breastmilk "jumpstarts" organs and systems in a way that formula cannot copy yet, providing decades of health effects.

One example of this is that in longitudinal studies, adults breastfed as babies have better cholesterol levels and ratios.

[longship]

3. And since they've gone through animal trials...

Human trials should come soon.

This is hugely important science given that epidemiologists have been afraid of humans entering into a post-antibiotic era, where antibiotics are no longer effective against wide varieties of infections.

This is important.

R&K

[vanlassie]

4. No kidding. Just think. Breastmilk can kill cancer cells and beat back antibiotic resistant

superbugs. But when will the general public understand these things???

[JaneyVee]

5. Natures perfect food.