American scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have changed the structure of the antifungal drug amphotericin B, making it safer for patients. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Nature.
Amphotericin B is produced by bacteria and effectively kills fungi, but is toxic to humans and damages the kidneys and other organs. That is why drugs based on it are used only in extreme cases.
“Fungal infections are a public health crisis that is only getting worse. And unfortunately, they can flare up and have an exponential impact, just like COVID-19 has done. So let’s take one of nature’s powerful tools to fight fungi and turn it into a powerful ally let’s transform it,” said study leader Dr Martin Burke.
The scientific team examined the mechanism of action of amphotericin B and found that the compound kills fungi by withdrawing the organic substance ergosterol from fungal cells. It turned out that amphotericin B molecules similarly damaged kidney cells by removing ergosterol-related cholesterol from kidney cells.
The scientists then tested various derivatives of amphotericin B and settled on a molecule called AM-2-19, which was safe for the kidneys but effective against fungi and immune to fungal resistance.
Researchers tested AM-2-19 against more than 500 different clinically important pathogens. The molecule dealt with infections in the blood and kidney cells of both laboratory mice and humans.
Previous scientists to create A fungal infection that causes changes in the brain similar to Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: Gazeta
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