Penicillin News and Research

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Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from ''Penicillium'' fungi. Penicillin antibiotics are historically significant because they are the first drugs that were effective against many previously serious diseases such as syphilis and Staphylococcus infections.

Researcher aims to eliminate chemotherapy-resistant ovarian tumors using virus treatment

In some cases, the Lassa virus starts with a fever and general weakness, moving toward headache, muscle pain, possible facial swelling, deafness, and worse. About 15 percent of patients hospitalized with severe cases die.

20 Apr 2017

Researchers uncover global regulator that 'switches on' silent biosynthetic gene clusters

Bacteria have supplied some of today's most indispensable anti-cancer and anti-bacterial drugs. Yet these compounds comprise only a fraction of their possible offerings. Now, researchers have found a way to unleash their full potential as natural product dispensers.

13 Apr 2017

Treating animals may be part of global strategy to eradicate tropical diseases, study suggests

As the World Health Organization steps up its efforts to eradicate a once-rampant tropical disease, a University of Washington study suggests that monitoring, and potentially treating, the monkeys that co-exist with humans in affected parts of the world may be part of the global strategy.

12 Apr 2017

Low-dose penicillin in early life changes behaviour and balance of gut microbes

In a landmark study, researchers at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University have found that providing clinical (low) doses of penicillin to pregnant mice and their offspring results in long-term behavioural changes.

4 Apr 2017

Case Western Reserve and Q2 Pharma partner to develop antivirulence agents that disarm superbugs

Case Western Reserve University and Q2 Pharma Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, have signed a two-year option to license small molecule, antivirulence technology to potentially treat bacterial infections such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the first known scientific effort of its kind.

31 Mar 2017

New combination antibiotic therapy overcomes pernicious infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria

Researchers have known that part of the challenge in treating penicillin-resistant infections lies in understanding the way bacteria inactivate penicillin antibiotics.

10 Mar 2017

Dental plaque DNA of Neandertals provides insights into behaviour, diet and medication

Ancient DNA found in the dental plaque of Neandertals - our nearest extinct relative - has provided remarkable new insights into their behaviour, diet and evolutionary history, including their use of plant-based medicine to treat pain and illness.

8 Mar 2017

Researchers develop skin tests, decision support tool to increase antibiotic use in hospitalized patients

Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital investigators have developed two approaches to increasing the use of penicillins and cephalosporins - highly effective antibiotics that are not as problematic as many alternatives - in hospitalized patients previously believed to be allergic to penicillin.

7 Mar 2017

Case Western Reserve and VA team up to tackle rising problem of antibiotic resistance

Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have made the world a much safer and healthier place. But Shakespeare was onto something when he asked if it's possible to have too much of a good thing. In the case of antibiotics, the answer is increasingly "yes."

3 Mar 2017

Study increases understanding of how air pollution affects human health

Researchers from the University of Leicester have for the first time discovered that bacteria that cause respiratory infections are directly affected by air pollution - increasing the potential for infection and changing the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment.

2 Mar 2017

Scientists managed to produce large quantities of promising natural substance

Once they can synthesise molecules of active natural substances, scientists will be able to harness nature’s medicine cabinet for the drugs of the future.

14 Feb 2017

Interventions that change the brain may promote resilience and improved mental health

In an article published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Dr. Bruce McEwen (Rockefeller University) analyzes promising outlooks that interventions that affect brain may have on health.

28 Jan 2017

OSU scientists develop new weapon to combat antibiotic-resistant germs

Oregon State University researchers have developed a new weapon in the battle against antibiotic-resistant germs - a molecule that neutralizes the bugs' ability to destroy the antibiotic.

19 Jan 2017

Researchers unravel bacterial protein structure that could pave way for new antibiotics

Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don't. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of which are targeted by antibiotics like penicillin and vancomycin.

12 Jan 2017

Research reveals how microbial context during infectious disease can compromise antibiotic therapy

Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor.

28 Dec 2016

WSU researchers develop novel technology to treat chronic wound infections

A WSU research team has successfully used a mild electric current to take on and beat drug-resistant bacterial infections, a technology that may eventually be used to treat chronic wound infections.

29 Nov 2016

Research supports re-introduction of penicillin-type antibiotics as adjunct therapeutic for MRSA infections

Microbiologists have identified how MRSA may be more effectively treated by modern-day antibiotics, if old-fashioned penicillin is also used.

15 Nov 2016

Researchers lay foundation for improved TB treatment by targeting new enzyme

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report they have laid the foundation to develop novel antibiotics that work against incurable, antibiotic-resistant bacteria like tuberculosis by targeting an enzyme essential to the production and integrity of bacterial cell walls.

10 Nov 2016

Research shows new role for plasmids in antibiotic resistance

A new study led by scientists at the University of Oxford has found that small DNA molecules known as plasmids are one of the key culprits in spreading the major global health threat of antibiotic resistance.

8 Nov 2016

New bio-photonic device aims to take drug hypersensitivity detection into new era

Over 2.5 million people in Europe and more than 5.4 million Americans suffer from hypersensitivity to Beta Lactam Antibiotics (BLCs), the most commonly prescribed drugs that contain the penicillin family, with up to 10 percent of people reporting an allergy.

20 Oct 2016