Virulence inhibitors for the treatment of soft tissue infections
The overall objective is to present an alternative treatment to antibiotics for wound management. This novel strategy is based on the inhibition of bacterial signalling (quorum sensing, QS), which controls bacterial virulence (toxicity) and resistance to immune cells. This approach would render bacteria incapable of establishing infection or disarm an established biofilm with low risk for resistance.
The project is funded by Stiftelsen för Strategisk Forskning with 2 500 000 SEK and co-funded by Mölnlycke Health Care for 2017-2020.
The principle participants in this project are: 1) Margarita Trobos, CARe, University of Gothenburg, Sweden 2) Sofia Almqvist, Mölnlycke Health Care, Sweden 3) Maria Werthén, University of Gothenburg, Sweden 4) Erik Gerner, Mölnlycke Health Care, Sweden.
Due to a growing elderly population and lifestyle diseases, an increasing number of patients develop hard-to-heal wounds resulting in patient suffering and costs. Infection is the most important complication and is seldom eradicated by antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat and urgently requires alternative treatments for non-healing wounds.
The overall objective is to present an alternative treatment to antibiotics for wound management. This novel strategy is based on the inhibition of bacterial signalling (quorum sensing, QS), which controls bacterial virulence (toxicity) and resistance to immune cells. This approach would render bacteria incapable of establishing infection or disarm an established biofilm with low risk for resistance.
The virulence of clinical strains from chronic wounds will be characterized. The effect of QS on host cell response will be studied in vitro and ex-vivo, where cells will be stimulated by virulence factors from biofilm cultures. The effect of QS inhibitors alone and with antiseptics on infection clearance, inflammatory response and rate of wound healing will be evaluated using in vivo infection models.
The results of this work will be used to: (i) formulate a wound treatment concept, based on an active substance in a suitable carrier, that will provide the inhibition of virulence of important wound pathogens, and (ii) provide scientific evidence that the strategy has potential to treat hard-to-heal wounds.