Scientists have found what they think could be an important weapon in the fight against superbugs, and it lives in your nose. A new antibiotic made by nose-dwelling bacteria, Staphylococcus lugdunensis (S. lugdunensis) has been found to kill drug-resistant MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which kills up to 10,000 people a year in the United States.
As a result of swabbing noses, scientists discovered that MRSA and S. lugdunensis are rarely found together. This discovery supports the idea that S. lugdunensis helps in fighting off MRSA. This bacterium produces an antibiotic, called lugdunin, which prevents MRSA from growing in Petri dishes. When applied to the skin of mice infected with MRSA, it reduced or eliminated the infection. MRSA shows no sign of antibiotic resistance to lugdunin. Although S. lugdunensis is effective in treating MRSA infections, it carries its own risk of causing infections in the heart, joints, skin, and eyes.
Normally, antibiotics are formed by soil bacteria and fungi. The idea that human bacteria may be a source of antimicrobial agents is a new discovery. A new class of antibiotics like this has not been found since the 1980s.
