Hope for the post-antibiotic era?

• Published in: Nature biotechnology Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 20
• Main Authors: Irvin, Randall T, Bautista, Daisy L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.1999
• Subjects: Adhesins, Bacterial - drug effects; Adhesins, Bacterial - genetics; Adhesins, Bacterial - metabolism; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Bacterial Adhesion - drug effects; Bacterial Infections - prevention & control; Bacterial Proteins - drug effects; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Humans; Lectins - drug effects; Lectins - genetics; Lectins - metabolism; Membrane Glycoproteins; Peptides - genetics; Peptides - metabolism; Peptides - pharmacology; Streptococcus mutans; Streptococcus mutans - pathogenicity; Tooth - microbiology
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/5189

Antibiotic use has substantially improved the quality of life as well as life expectancy itself. Nevertheless, the clinical effectiveness of most antibiotics has declined radically as resistant organisms have become dominant to a point where the use of antibiotics is seriously compromised. The potential emergence of untreatable "super-bugs" has alarmed scientists and clinicians alike, raising the specter of a post-antibiotic era. Such gloomy forecasts have provided added impetus to efforts to develop new strategies for managing infectious diseases. In this issue, Kelly et al. describe a small clinical trial in which one such antiinfective strategy is successfully employed to block colonization of human teeth by the pathogen Streptococcus mutans.