β-Lactamase-producing bacteria How can I resist you?

Abstract

In 1945 Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, which is a natural β-lactam antibiotic. In an interview with the New York Times in the same year, he warned that misuse of the drug could result in selection of resistant bacteria. Shortly after this prediction, a significant number of strains of bacteria had become resistant to penicillin. Since the discovery of penicillin, a lot of other antibiotics have been discovered. For decades bacterial infections were treated with antibiotics effectively, but bacterial antibiotic resistance became a worldwide public health problem that continues to grow. Antibiotic resistance can develop through spontaneous genetic mutations or by transfer of genes carrying antibiotic resistance markers. The most common type of resistance is caused by the bacterial production of β-lactamases that inactivate β-lactam antibiotics by hydrolyzing the β-lactam ring. Some bacteria are resistant to all approved antibiotics and can only be treated with experimental drugs. Multi-drug resistant bacteria have already caused many deaths. This urgently calls for measures to fight infections by alternative ways. The question I would like to answer in this thesis is: What can be done to reduce the rising risk of antibiotic resistance, especially of β-lactamase-producing bacteria?