Researchers report that the agent AB569, a combination of acidified nitrite and disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, killed Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with high efficacy in lab tests; notably, AB569 not only neutralized Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a refractory pathogen implicated in numerous infections, including cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but also killed bacteria in biofilms and in a mouse model of chronic lung infection and was nontoxic to human cells at bactericidal concentrations, suggesting that AB569 represents a potential therapeutic agent for several human bacterial infections, according to the authors.
###
Article # 19-11927: "AB569, a nontoxic chemical tandem that kills major human pathogenic bacteria ," by Cameron T. McDaniel et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Daniel Hassett, University of Cincinnati, OH; tel: 513-558-1154, 513-773-7749; e-mail: daniel.hassett@uc.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences