Promising effect of topical antimicrobial ‘biobetters’ against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Burns |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305417922002212?via%3Dihub |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2022.08.011 |
| Keywords | topical antimicrobial 'biobetters'; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains |
| Description | Successful control of burn wound infection is one of the keystones in the successful treatment of patients with burn injury. The increase in the prevalence of resistant strains of pathogens dramatically reduces the options of antibiotic treatment. Infectious complications caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are known to be associated with significantly higher mortality than those caused by methicillin-sensitive strains (MSSA; 42 % and 18 %, respectively). This situation underlines the necessity for other strategies to control infectious complications of burn wounds. The use of enzybiotics (such as endolysins and lysostaphins), specific products of bacteriophages or competing bacteria, appears to be a promising alternative approach. Their advantages include high specificity and, in particular, they appear less susceptible to the development of resistant strains of bacteria. The principal limitations of the current options for the use of enzybiotics in the topical treatment of MRSA-induced burn wound infections are 1) low production associated with a high price, 2) short duration of the enzymatic activity, which is caused by the structural instability of enzymes resulting in protein denaturation and 3) low resistance of the enzyme to proteases – in particular, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are produced in the burn wound area in high amounts. |