(Press-News.org) Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, and Michigan State University, USA, have discovered a type of molecule that can kill chlamydia bacteria but spare bacteria that are important for health. The discovery opens the door for further research towards developing new antibiotics against chlamydia, the world's most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease with 130 million cases a year.
"No one should have to live with chlamydia. But the problem is that the treatments we have today do not distinguish between dangerous and friendly bacteria. A growing problem is also that more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to today's broad-acting antibiotics," says the study's lead author Barbara Sixt, associate professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University, Sweden.
The bacterium that causes chlamydia, Chlamydia trachomatis, has very special properties. Just like viruses, it invades cells in the human body, which it then reshapes so that they give the bacterium a home where it can grow and multiply.
"We thought it could be possible to find a way to outsmart the bacterium's lifestyle by interfering with its special properties and its interactions with human cells," says the study's first author Magnus Ölander, former postdoc at Umeå University.
The researchers searched through large collections of chemical molecules to find molecules that can eradicate the growth of the chlamydia bacterium in human cells in laboratory cultures. More than 60 possible anti-chlamydia molecules were identified. It was a matter of finding molecules that could selectively kill the chlamydia bacterium but at the same time be harmless to human cells and to beneficial bacteria that the body needs to stay healthy. After further refined studies, the researchers were able to identify a particularly potent molecule.
The molecule in question was found to be able to inhibit the bacterium's ability to produce fatty acids, which are necessary for its growth.
"There is still a long way to go before we have a new treatment, but this finding may prove very important in developing new antibiotics that are both effective but at the same time gentle on the body”, says Barbara Sixt.
The research was carried out in collaboration with André Mateus and Björn Schröder at Umeå University, Sweden, and Jeremy Lohman at Michigan State University, United States of America.
Chlamydia often causes mild symptoms but if left untreated can cause long-term damage to the reproductive organs, especially in women. This can cause chronic pain and infertility and can have consequences for pregnancy and childbirth. Chlamydia may also contribute to the onset of cancer of the cervix and ovaries. Every year, about 25,000 people in Sweden are diagnosed with chlamydia, 130 million worldwide.
END
Discovery opens up for new ways to treat chlamydia
2025-05-08
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Evaluating the safety and efficacy of a smallpox vaccine for preventing mpox
2025-05-08
In recent years, the world has seen a surge in new and deadly infectious diseases, posing a major threat to global health. Outbreaks of COVID-19, H1N1 (swine flu), Ebola, Zika, and monkeypox are a stark reminder of our vulnerability. While some of these viruses are new and relatively unknown, others, like the monkeypox virus (mpox virus or MPXV) have been around since the 1970s but have been endemic to parts of Africa. However, the recent global outbreak of mpox—caused by a newly identified variant that is more infectious than previous strains—has raised concerns across the world, ...
HIV drugs offer ‘substantial’ Alzheimer’s protection, new research indicates
2025-05-08
UVA Health scientists are calling for clinical trials testing the potential of HIV drugs called NRTIs to prevent Alzheimer’s disease after discovering that patients taking the drugs are substantially less likely to develop the memory-robbing condition.
The researchers, led by UVA’s Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, previously identified a possible mechanism by which the drugs could prevent Alzheimer’s. That promising finding prompted them to analyze two of the nation’s largest health insurance databases ...
Common lung bacteria team up to evade immune defenses
2025-05-08
The incidence of infection by Mycobacterium abscessus, is increasing in patients with cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other chronic pulmonary diseases, leading to an accelerated lung function decline. Remarkably, 58–78% of patients with M. abscessus infection are also infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the most common pathogen in these conditions. However, how these two bacterial species interact during infection remains poorly understood.
Now, a new study led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Universitat ...
Eating ultra-processed foods may harm your health
2025-05-08
Consumption of ultra-processed foods, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, potato chips and packaged cookies, may be associated with adverse health outcomes, according to research being presented at the ACC Asia 2025 Together with SCS 36th Annual Scientific Meeting taking place May 9-11 in Singapore. This risk for hypertension, other cardiovascular events, cancer, digestive diseases, mortality and more, increased with every 100 grams of ultra-processed foods consumed each day.
“Ultra-processed foods are characterized by high sugar, high salt, and other non-nutritive components, exhibiting low nutritional density yet ...
Major US cities are sinking
2025-05-08
Twenty-eight major U.S. cities, including New York, Dallas, and Seattle, are seeing urban areas sink by 2 to 10 millimeters per year, according to new research from Virginia Tech. The major cause is groundwater extraction.
Published in Nature Cities, the study used satellite-based radar measurements to create high-resolution maps of subsidence, or sinking land, for 28 of the most populous U.S. cities. The cities are home to 34 million people, about 12 percent of the total U.S. population.
In every city studied, at least 20 percent of the urban area ...
New study traces sharp regional shifts in ischemic heart disease burden — a global warning signal
2025-05-08
A new study puts the spotlight on the rising burden of ischemic heart disease across Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania, and calls for localized, equity-focused interventions in these regions. The researchers identified region-specific, modifiable risk factors that influence the increasing prevalence of ischemic heart disease, such as toxic air pollution in East Asia and ultra-processed dietary dependence in Oceania. The study will be presented at the ACC Asia 2025 Together With SCS 36th Annual Scientific Meeting in Singapore.
Ischemic heart disease (IHD) occurs ...
Too fast to see
2025-05-08
If you quickly move a camera from object to object, the abrupt shift between the two points causes a motion smear that might give you nausea. Our eyes, however, do movements like these two or three times per second. These rapid movements are called saccades, and although the visual stimulus during a saccade shifts abruptly across the retina, our brain seems to keep it under the hood: we never perceive the shift. New research shows that the speed of our saccades predicts the speed limit in our vision when an object becomes too fast to see. According to a study published in Nature ...
All of the biggest U.S. cities are sinking
2025-05-08
A new study of the 28 most populous U.S. cities finds that all are sinking to one degree or another. The cities include not just those on the coasts, where relative sea level is a concern, but many in the interior. Furthermore, using newly granular data, the study finds that some cities are sinking at different rates in different spots, or sinking in some places and rising in others, potentially introducing stresses that could affect buildings and other infrastructure. Massive ongoing groundwater extraction is the most common cause of these land movements, say the authors, though other ...
Database reveals vital ocean links to aid conservation
2025-05-08
Scientists have launched an interactive global map to show the migratory patterns of more than 100 marine species in an effort to protect at-risk wildlife.
New models were developed by The University of Queensland and Duke University scientists to be part of the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) database which aims to bridge information gaps for policymakers and conservationists.
Dr Lily Bentley from UQ’s Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science said the online tool was the first freely accessible global view of marine migratory connectivity.
“Covering ...
Robotic dog mimics mammals for superior mobility on land and in water
2025-05-08
A team of researchers has unveiled a cutting-edge Amphibious Robotic Dog capable of roving across both land and water with remarkable efficiency. The study, published in IOP Publishing’s Bioinspiration and Biometrics, was inspired by mammals’ ability to move through water as well as on land.
Existing amphibious robots are largely inspired by reptiles or insects, and often face limitations in agility, dynamics, and load capacity. Basing the amphibious robot on the swimming style of dogs allows for it to easily transition between land and water and overcome many ...