New Antibiotic that has Activity Against Both MRSA and VRE

May 11, 2015

A research group at the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences has found a compound in Nuphar japonicum that shows activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).

Associate Professor Kuroda and his colleagues have isolated 6,6-dihydroxythiobinupharidine (DTBN) from a plant called Nuphar japonicum and identified it as an antimicrobial compound. They have shown that DTBN has activity against various MRSA and VRE strains and also demonstrated that DTBN inhibits DNA topoisomerase IV.

The findings were published on February 27, 2015 in the journal of Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – General Subjects.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25731981

In addition, the research group has demonstrated that DTBN enhances anti-MRSA activity of arbekacin when the two are combined. They also have shown that when DTBN and vancomycin are used concurrently, vancomycin activity against VRE is recovered.

DTBN could become a useful seed in developing a novel anti-MRSA and anti-VRE drug. DTBN is also expected to reduce the risk of the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria because DTBN enhances the activity of existing antibiotics and thus requires less of those antibiotics to be used.


Contact Information
Mototaka Senda, Ph.D.
Director of Okayama University Silicon Valley Office
Deputy Director of Intellectual Property Office
Organization for Research Promotion and Collaboration, Okayama University
2450 Peralta Blvd. #119 Fremont, California USA
TEL: 1-510-396-2031
Email: takasenda(a)okayama-u.ac.jp
For inquiries, please contact us by replacing (a) with the @ mark.

Teruo Kuroda, Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan