A new treatment option for an antibiotic nightmare

23 April 2020

Lung infections by the bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus are emerging worldwide and are very difficult to treat, because of the bacterium’s resistance to most classes of antibiotics. The research group led by Jakko van Ingen, clinical microbiologist, theme Infectiouses diseases and global health, has discovered that inhalation of an old and normally toxic antibiotic (tigecycline) may finally improve treatment outcomes of this severe infection.

In the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Radboudumc and Colorado State University group presents two mouse model experiments showing that inhaled tigecycline was well-tolerated and achieved eradication of M. abscessus from the lungs of all but one mouse. This dramatic effect is unprecedented for this bacterium, that is often dubbed the ‘antibiotic nightmare’.

The results of the current study suggest that development of an inhaled formulation of tigecycline may improve treatment outcomes of this severe lung infection.