Scientists from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have found a method to reduce the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. The results of the work are described in an article published in the journal EMBO.

The authors focused on the bacterium P. aeruginosa, which can lead to severe infections in immunocompromised patients with cystic fibrosis (in 70 percent of patients). About 15 percent of nosocomial infections are caused by this particular pathogen. In some cases, no antibiotics can affect this pathogen, and the person dies.

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Experts have pinpointed the molecular mechanisms of the bacterium that allow it to be more virulent while attaching to surfaces. When a bacterium binds to a tissue, the infection progresses more efficiently, and the pathogen becomes more resistant to antibacterial drugs. For example, when P. aeruginosa encounters a soft surface, such as inside the lungs, it forms a biofilm that provides ideal conditions for the development of drug resistance. This discovery will enable scientists to develop new strategies for treating P. aeruginosa infections.

The team is also investigating a new approach that involves "deactivating" bacteria rather than killing them, using anti-bacterial virulence drugs that render the micro-organisms unable to cause infection without causing their own death.