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- Posted Friday June 5, 2015
TGen led study points towards new strategies for stopping the spread of Staph and MRSA
Twins study suggests that bacteria of the human nose are not genetically predetermined and that some nasal bacteria may protect against MRSA
PHOENIX, Ariz. - June 5, 2015 -
Staphylococcus aureus - better known as Staph -
is a common inhabitant of the human nose, and people who carry it
are at increased risk for dangerous Staph infections.
However, it may be possible to exclude these unwelcome guests using
other more benign bacteria, according to a new study led by
scientists representing the Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen), the Statens Serum Institut, and Milken
Institute School of Public Health (SPH) at the George Washington
University.
The study, published today in the AAAS journal Science
Advances, suggests that a person's environment is more
important than their genes in determining the bacteria that inhabit
their noses. The study also suggests that some common nasal
bacteria may prevent Staph colonization.
"This study is important because it suggests that the bacteria in
the nose are not defined by our genes and that we may be able to
introduce good bacteria to knock out bad bugs like Staph,"
said Dr. Lance B. Price, Director of TGen's Center for Microbiomics
and Human Health and a Professor of Environmental and Occupational
Health at the Milken Institute. "Using probiotics to promote gut
health has become common in our culture. Now we're looking to use
these same strategies to prevent the spread of superbugs."
The multi-center research team looked at data taken from 46
identical twins and 43 fraternal twins in the Danish Twin Registry,
one of the oldest registries of twins in the world. "We showed that
there is no genetically inherent cause for specific bacteria in the
nasal microbiome," said senior author Dr. Paal Skytt Andersen. Dr.
Andersen is head of the Laboratory for Microbial Pathogenesis and
Host Susceptibility in the Department of Microbiology and Infection
Control at the Statens Serum Institut and an Adjunct Professor at
the University of Copenhagen.
The so-called nasal microbiome is the collection of microbes
living deep within the nasal cavity. This research might ultimately
lead to interventions that could route Staph from the nose
and thus prevent dangerous infections, including those caused by
antibiotic resistant Staph, the authors say. Studies
suggest drug-resistant Staph infections kill more than
18,000 people in the United States every year.
The researchers also looked for possible gender differences and
found that contrary to past studies that showed that men are at
higher risk for Staph nasal colonization. This study,
using DNA sequencing, found that there is no difference between men
and woman in the likelihood of nasal colonization by
Staph.
"This was a surprising finding. I felt like I was one of the
MythBusters guys. For years, most scientists agreed that
men were more likely to be colonized by Staph than women.
But now we see that that was probably just an artifact of using old
methods, and that men just tend to have more bacteria in their
noses, which makes them easier to culture," said Dr. Cindy Liu, a
Pathology resident at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a TGen
research affiliate, and the study's lead author.
Importantly, the study found evidence that other types of
organisms can disrupt Staph. A prime example is
Corynebacterium, a mostly harmless bacterium that is
commonly found on the skin. The study found that having high
amounts of Corynebacterium in the nose was predictive of
having low amounts of Staph and vise versa.
"We believe this study provides the early evidence that the
introduction of probiotics could work to prevent or knock out
Staph from the nose," said Dr. Liu.
The next step will be to prove out the findings of the study's
models in a laboratory setting.
Funding for this work, Staphylococcus aureus and the Ecology
of the Nasal Microbiome, was provided by 1R15DE021194-01 and
AI101371-02 from the National Institutes of Health. The Danish Twin
Registry is supported by a grant from the National Program for
Research Infrastructure 2007 from the Danish Agency for Science
Technology and Innovation. The content of this publication are
solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the
official views of the funding agency.
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About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with cancer, neurological disorders and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]