Maggot antibiotic tackles bugs

5 August 2008 06:22pm

A new antibiotic derived from maggots has been developed that can tackle a plethora of problem bugs, including 12 different strains of MRSA, researchers have announced.

Seraticin is made from the maggot secretions of the common green bottle fly. Scientists hope to turn it into a treatment that can be injected, swallowed as a pill or used as an ointment.

Placing maggots on wounds is an age-old method of fighting infection. The grubs secrete chemicals that clean wounds and kill bacteria, preventing the decay of body tissues.

The new antibiotic, Seraticin, was developed by scientists at the University of Swansea in Wales.

Tests have shown it to be effective against up to 12 different strains of the superbug Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), as well as the food poisoning bacterium Escherichia coli and Clostridium difficile, which is proving a major problem in hospitals.

Between 2002 and 2006, more than 6,000 deaths in England and Wales involved MRSA and 15,683 deaths involved C. difficile.

Dr Yolande Harley, from the charity Action Medical Research which funded the research, said: "The discovery of a potential new antibiotic is an exciting advance. It could mean a possible novel treatment for people with chronic wounds that are infected with MRSA or other bugs.

"By developing the pure antibiotic into a formula, such as a cream, it could reduce the contact patients need to have with live maggots to heal wounds. It could also offer a potential treatment, such as an injection or pill, for internal infections like C. difficile."

Professor Norman Ratcliffe, who led the scientists, said: "It has been a huge team effort to get to this level and I am delighted with our progress; however there is more to do if we are to realise the maximum benefits from this discovery.

"It takes approximately 20 mugs of maggots to yield just one drop of purified Seraticin at present. Thus, the next stage will be to confirm its exact identity using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses in order for us to produce this chemically on a larger scale."

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