Scientists have found a compound in Lake Michigan that proved effective in fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to research published in ACS Infectious Diseases.
Antibiotics produced by fungi and bacteria in soil were once the source of life-saving drugs, but new antimicrobials have becoming increasingly rare as the number of drug-resistant pathogens grows. In response, scientists have begun mining freshwater bodies, such as lakes and rivers, as a new potential source for antibiotics.
Brian T. Murphy, PhD, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Illinois Chicago, and his team screened freshwater bacteria gathered from Lake Michigan and identified a new compound that stops the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
According to the team's lab test, the freshwater compound worked at least as well as current treatments for tuberculosis, and it inhibited drug-resistant strains, meaning it has potential to be a source of new antibiotics.
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