Many people carry a bacteria that can cause stomach cancer. Researchers have now developed a new treatment that is significantly more effective than previous treatments – and offers another advantage.
In Germany, around 16,000 people develop stomach cancer every year. A common cause is infection with the widespread bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Researchers have now developed an approach to combat the pathogen much more effectively.
Around 43 percent of the world’s population carries the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. It can trigger inflammation of the stomach lining, cause stomach ulcers and is considered an important risk factor for stomach cancer. The infection is usually treated with a combination of medications, including the antibiotic metronidazole. But increasing resistance makes therapy more difficult.
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have now been able to significantly increase the effectiveness of this antibiotic. “Based on our new basic findings, we developed slightly chemically modified variants of metronidazole, so-called ether derivatives. This molecular optimization means that the active ingredient can attach better and more stably to the target proteins,” Michaela Fiedler and Marianne Pandler, first authors of the study, are quoted as saying in a statement.
In laboratory and animal tests, the new compounds were up to 60 times more effective against the cancer-promoting bacteria. The results were published in the journal “Nature Microbiology”.
Antibiotics such as metronidazole work, among other things, by triggering so-called oxidative stress in the bacterium – chemical processes that damage cell components. However, exactly how the drug works in the cell was not yet fully understood.
The researchers were able to show that metronidazole not only causes stress, but also attacks the bacterium’s central protective mechanisms. The focus is on two proteins: one that repairs damaged proteins and another that neutralizes harmful oxygen compounds.
In the studies, the new compounds not only showed significantly greater effectiveness against the bacterium, but also activity against resistant bacterial strains. At the same time, the researchers found no evidence of increased toxicity for human cells. The substances also proved promising in the mouse model: the infection could be completely eliminated with a significantly lower dosage than with the previous standard therapy.
Another advantage: the animals’ intestinal microbiome was less affected by the new active ingredients than by conventional treatments. This could be relevant in the long term, as antibiotics often also damage beneficial bacteria.
Despite the promising results, the researchers emphasize that so far these are only preclinical data. Clinical studies must first show whether the new active ingredients are also safe and effective in humans.
