Project description
Evaluation of antibacterial treatment options for treponematoses therapy
Current therapeutic options for human treponematoses (syphilis, yaws, pinta) are generally restricted to injectable penicillin. Yaws is treatable with azithromycin, but there is a real risk of dissemination of the macrolide-resistant strains. The drug susceptibility profile of Treponema pallidum (T.p.) is unknown because the microorganism could not be grown in culture. Penicillin treatment failure is usually related to syphilis bacteria surviving in the central nervous system (CNS). The EU-funded Trep-AB project proposes evaluation of approved antibacterial treatment options with good CNS penetration that could be efficacious for all stages of T.p. infection. Preliminary study identified several candidate antibiotics using computational prediction of drug activity against T.p. and other spirochetes. Researchers will test 20 potential drug candidates in the recently developed T.p. specific culture methods of drug susceptibility. The results will be confirmed in an experimental rabbit model of infection and if successful, translated into clinical trials.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutation
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineallergology
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
08916 Badalona
Spain
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Beneficiaries (2)
08916 Badalona
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98195 9472 Seattle Wa
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