Polish way to detect antibiotic-resistant bacteria
The problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is becoming increasingly serious. Hence, it is useful for doctors to know which drug will most effectively combat the pathogens that have invaded a particular patient. An instrument that will provide comprehensive data on bacteria is being developed in Warsaw.
In view of the increasing drug resistance of bacteria, the success of treatment of a particular patient is increasingly determined by microbiological analysis, based on which rych in hospitals to decide on the best therapy. Support Modern analytical equipment, however, provides very fragmentary information about the drug susceptibility of bacteria.
Meanwhile, BacterOMIC AST, an analytical instrument being developed in Warsaw, will for the first time allow doctors to get complete and accurate data on antibiotic resistance of bacteria attacking a particular patient in just a few to several hours.
Final R&D and implementation work on the novel apparatus is just beginning thanks to a PLN 3.7 million TEAM-TECH grant from the Foundation for Polish Science, awarded to a consortium formed by the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) and BacterOMIC Sp. z o.o., A company belonging to the spin-off Scope Fluidics S.A.
Black forecasts
– According to estimates in the World Health Organization, drug-resistant bacteria could lead to up to 300 million deaths worldwide in the next 35 years in the people. This number is very impressive. Here there is no longer a question of some abstract threat, because if the black forecasts come true, due to drug resistance of bacteria in 2050 alone, one person in a thousand will die! Each of us will therefore personally know people who ers have died only because existing antibiotics have stopped working,” illustrates Prof. Piotr Garstecki from the IPC PAS and the company BacterOMIC. And he points out that the sooner a patient receives the right antibiotic, the better the.
Support Modern analytical instruments do not provide complete information on the drug susceptibility of bacteria, nor do they test the effectiveness of drug combinations. On the og ł are devices that test the effects of only a few to a dozen antibiotics. In addition, the analysis simply classifies bacteria as drug-resistant or not, or belonging to an intermediate group of. Yes og lne data not infrequently in og le do not allow doctors to make rational decisions (e.g. on the antibiogram all antibiotics can be marked as ineffective).
Meanwhile, researchers in Warsaw have designed an apparatus in which the rym pr bc the bacterial sample, taken from the patient, is separated into hundreds of micro-volumes after dilution. Each portion goes into one of the microchambers located on a small, replaceable disposable panel.
– The panel, made of plastic, contains several hundred microcells containing sion of different drugs in the tions. After adding the solution with the analyzed pr bka, bacterial culture is carried out in all microchambers simultaneously. After several hours, our instrument evaluates the development of The antibiogram is to be complete, but it is also to contain very precise information on the effectiveness of each antibiotic for each colony and provide the doctor with not random, but complete information on drug susceptibility of bacteria attacking a particular patient,” explains the project manager from the IPC PAS, Dr. Eng. Tomasz Kaminski.
Innovative BacterOMIC AST instrument
The large capacity of a single panel in the BacterOMIC AST instrument allows to test the effectiveness of as many as 97 antibiotics – and thus virtually all clinically important. Not only is the antibiogram supposed to be complete, but it is also supposed to contain very precise information about the effectiveness of each antibiotic. On this basis, the doctor can always rationally construct the optimal therapy for a given case of infection. – In part, the microcom we also intend to conduct experiments with selected antibiotic mixtures. We will thus be in a much better position to assess the resistance mechanisms of the bacteria under study. No other currently available laboratory equipment can provide such information,” stresses Prof. Garstecki.
A press release from the IPC PAS said that a single BacterOMIC AST instrument will enable analysis on 60 panels At the same time, with the cost of a single panel similar to that of existing devices. The instrument, currently in the preprototype stage, has been tested for its ability to grow bacteria and track their growth in microcompartments.
The prototype is scheduled to be completed in the autumn, and testing in domestic and foreign laboratories will begin immediately thereafter. Researchers expect that the first copies of BacterOMIC AST for hospitals and clinics should be available within four years or so.
