It is
well-known that prolonged exposure to high doses of antibiotics can increase
tolerance and sometimes strengthen the very bacteria that antibiotics are
trying to kill. New research, however, suggests that an extract from maple
syrup may boost the efficacy of antibiotics and reduce their side effects.
Antibiotics -
the commonly used drugs that fight off bacteria - have been helping us to ward
off infections for almost a century, since the invention of penicillin in 1929.
However, in recent years, antibiotics
have been losing to certain forms of highly resistant bacteria known as
"superbugs."
In fact, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 2 millionTrusted Source people
in the United States are infected with these superbugs every year, and more
than 23,000 die as a result.
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) also warn against
the dangers of developing resilient forms of gonorrhea, tuberculosis,
and staph infections as a result of over-prescribing or misusing antibiotics.
The NIH caution that antibiotics kill a lot of the "good" bacteria
that are responsible for keeping the human body healthy and immune to
infections.
A new study,
however, offers hope in the fight against superbugs. A team of researchers at
McGill University in Québec, Canada - led by Nathalie Tufenkji, Ph.D. - set out
to examine the effects of a natural extract from maple syrup on the therapeutic
action of antibiotics.
"Native populations in Canada
have long used maple syrup to fight infections. I have always been interested
in the science behind these folk medicines," says Tufenkji, who came up
with the idea of investigating the antimicrobial action of maple syrup extract
while studying the same aspects in cranberry extracts.
The study - which is presented at the
American Chemical Society's 253rd National Meeting & Exposition in San
Francisco, CA - suggests that maple syrup extract can drastically improve the
action of antibiotics, without enhancing any of their side effects.
Over 90 percent less antibiotic
needed to achieve the same effect
Tufenkji and team used the common
extraction process in which the sugar and water are separated from the phenolic
compounds of the syrup. Phenols are
a toxic compound that serves as disinfectant and antiseptic. In the case of
maple syrup, phenolic compounds are partly responsible for its golden color.
The researchers tested the combined
effect of maple syrup extract and the common antibiotics ciprofloxacin and carbenicillin.
They found that together, the two substances created a synergistic, destructive
effect on biofilms. Biofilms are a thin layer of bacteria
that are often resistant to medicine, and which are common in severe infections
such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs).
This strong
synergistic effect enabled the researchers to obtain the same antimicrobial
effect by using up to 97 percent less antibiotic.
This dramatic improvement in
antibiotic potency was noted against clinical strains of Escherichia
coli (which
can causeTrusted Source UTIs,
gastrointestinal problems, or even respiratory illness), Proteus
mirabilis (which
is also responsible for many UTIs), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (which affects hospitalized
patients and people with a weakened immune system).
The authors of the study conclude:
"Thus, [maple syrup extract] can be
used as an antibiotic synergizer/potentiator for treatment of different types
of bacterial infections.
The proposed synergism-based
treatment may expand the spectrum of existing antimicrobials, prevent the
emergence of resistant strains, and minimize potential cytotoxicity due to high
antibiotic doses."
To further investigate the syrup's
antibiotic-enhancing effect, the researchers tested the extract in combination
with antibiotics on fruit flies and moth larvae. They found that fruit flies
that had eaten meals soaked in maple syrup extract lived for several additional
days compared with their syrup-free counterparts.
The scientists are now testing the
effects of maple syrup extract on mice, and they hope that one day the extract
will be turned into a widely available, plant-based medicine.
"There are other products out
there that boost antibiotic strength, but this may be the only one that comes
from nature," Tufenkji says.
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