80-Year-Old Antibiotic Shows Promise Against Superbug Crisis: Report

Researchers are re-examining streptothricin, an antibiotic that was first created more than 80 years ago, in hopes of determining whether it might effectively combat drug-resistant superbugs. Streptothricin, which was isolated in the 1940s but was put on hold because of toxicity concerns, is currently being investigated again under the moniker nourseothricin.

The revived use of this ancient medication may offer much-needed remedies in the fight against antibiotic resistance, since the World Health Organisation lists gram-negative bacteria as one of the most harmful infections. The study was published in PLOS Biology.

According to ScienceAlert, in 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a list of the most dangerous, drug-resistant pathogens out there. Most were gram-negative bacteria.

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But despite its potential for killing bacteria, streptothricin didn't make the cut. It was deemed too toxic to the health of human kidneys in an initial study and was subsequently buried in the scientific literature.

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Pathologist James Kirby from Harvard University and his colleagues are digging it back up, exploring its potential under a new name: nourseothricin.

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"Now with the emergence of multi-drug-resistant pathogens, for which there are few if any active antibiotics available for treatment, it is time to revisit and explore the potential of what we have previously overlooked," Kirby told ScienceAlert in May 2023.