What if we combined 4 or 5 antibiotics?
“I was blown away by the number of effective antibiotic combinations,” says one of the authors, professor of ecology and genetic and biomedical biology at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA). "You would think that different antibiotics would interact, but that's really not the case." 8,000 new combinations of antibiotics would thus be surprisingly effective, report American biologists and combining 4 or 5 existing drugs could contribute to the fight against antibiotic resistance. A new paradigm not to be overlooked with regard to a poor pipeline, to be discovered in the journal Systems Biology and Applications.
Faced with bacterial infections, we should not limit ourselves to simple combinations of 2 drugs from "our medical toolbox", explains Pamela Yeh and Elif Tekin who refute here the idea that the advantage of combining 3 or more drugs would be too minimal in relation to the risk of drug interaction.
Indeed, thousands of 4- or 5-drug antibiotic combinations shown to be more effective against harmful bacteria suggested here by these researchers are a major step towards protecting public health at a time when common infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
More than 18,000 combinations scrutinized:
Working with 8 antibiotics, the team analyzed how all possible combinations of 4 and 5 drugs, including with different doses, making a total of 18,278 combinations, act against E. coli. The team is surprised at the number of powerful combinations discovered. For each combination tested, the researchers first assessed the efficacy against the growth of E. Coli. 1,676 combinations of 4 drugs performed better than expected. Of the five-drug combinations, 6,443 were also found to be more effective than expected. Conversely, 2,331 combinations of 4 drugs and 5,199 of 5 drugs proved to be less effective than expected.
Some antibiotics attack the cell walls, others the bacterial DNA:
it therefore seems logical that combining different attack strategies is more effective than a single approach. In short, very promising first results, but it will still take years of evaluation before the adoption of certain combinations in clinical practice.
“The ability to more judiciously use combinations of existing antibiotics that individually lose potency is welcome. This work will encourage new tests in humans of the most promising combinations in the face of the bacterial infections that we currently have the most difficulty dealing with ”.
How long should you wait between antibiotics?
The following are examples of appropriate time intervals for taking your antibiotics. If your label says to use the medicine: Twice a day – take your dose every 12 hours. Three times a day – take your dose every 8 hours.
What should be the time gap between antibiotics?
It is usually taken every 12 hours (twice a day) or every 8 hours (three times a day) with or without food. The length of your treatment depends on the type of infection that you have.
What disease can you get from too many antibiotics?
Illness from C. difficile typically occurs after use of antibiotic medications. It most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long-term care facilities. In the United States, about 200,000 people are infected annually with C.
Do antibiotics weaken your immune system?
Will antibiotics weaken my immune system? Very rarely, antibiotic treatment will cause a drop in the blood count, including the numbers of white cells that fight infection. This corrects itself when the treatment is stopped.
What happens if you take 4 antibiotics at the same time?
There's an increased risk of side effects if you take 2 doses closer together than recommended. Accidentally taking 1 extra dose of your antibiotic is unlikely to cause you any serious harm. But it will increase your chances of getting side effects, such as pain in your stomach, diarrhoea, and feeling or being sick.
Can you use two antibiotics at the same time?
A second antibiotic may delay the emergence of bacteria resistant to the first antibiotic. Two antibiotics may be synergistic with one another.
Can you mix multiple antibiotics?
You might think that combining two antibiotics would be a great strategy to take down a nasty disease fast. Think again. A new study suggests that such a two-pronged attack can backfire badly by giving super-resistant bacteria the opportunity they need to come out on top in the struggle for resources.
What happens if you take too many antibiotics at the same time?
Antibiotic overdoses are rarely dangerous, but stomach upset and diarrhea may occur. Taking the wrong antibiotic is a problem if someone is allergic to the drug.
What happens if you mix antibiotics together?
The effectiveness of antibiotics can be altered by combining them with each other, non-antibiotic drugs or even with food additives. Depending on the bacterial species, some combinations stop antibiotics from working to their full potential whilst others begin to defeat antibiotic resistance, report researchers.
