Human Milk Protein Complex a Potential Weapon Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: Researchers

A protein complex called HAMLET found in human breast milk can help reverse antibiotic resistance, according to a new study.

Microbes getting resistant to antibiotics is a growing problem in the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the U.S. faces some real danger from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Recently, the agency announced the rise of nightmare bacteria - carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae - that have become resistant to the last-resort antibiotics called carbapenems.

The present study was conducted by researchers from University of Buffalo. They found that under a controlled environment, bacteria became sensitive to common antibiotics like penicillin and erythromycin when they were exposed to the protein HAMLET, found in breast milk.

"HAMLET has the potential minimize the concentrations of antibiotics we need to use to fight infections, and enable us to use well-established antibiotics against resistant strains again," said Anders Hakansson, a UB assistant professor of microbiology and immunology and lead author of the study, in a news release.

Researchers found that HAMLET-treated bacteria such as penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) became sensitive to the antibiotics once again.

A recent study had shown that using a stronger combination of antibiotics helps bacteria become resistant to the drugs faster.

The team's work on the human milk human-lipid complex on sensitizing bacteria is published in the journal PLOS One and can be found here and here.

Also, the bacteria haven't found a way to grow resistant to HAMLET, despite multiple generations being exposed to the protein complex.

"Unlike synthetic drugs, HAMLET is a naturally occurring human milk protein-lipid complex, and so is not associated with the types of toxic side effects that we so frequently see with the high-powered antibiotics needed to kill drug-resistant organisms," said Laura Marks, one of the study authors from UB's Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

According to Chief Medical Officer from the U.K., rising antibiotic resistance would lead to common infections turning deadly in the next two decades. Also, there is surprisingly little progress in the development of drugs that can battle these antibiotic-resistant bacteria.