Antibacterial activities of natural minerals and alternative treatment for infect

描述（由申请人提供）：我们妥善解决全球传染病发病率的能力在于检测、预防和有效治疗这些感染的能力。随着抗生素的过度使用和滥用，感染性细菌已变得越来越耐药。因此，鉴定和分析抑制剂是一个值得的奋进，因为很少有新的抗菌化合物已经产生在最近几十年。使用天然纳米矿物来治愈皮肤感染自最早的记录历史以来已经是显而易见的，并且特定的粘土矿物可以证明在治疗细菌性疾病中是有价值的，包括没有有效抗生素的感染，例如布鲁里溃疡和多重耐药性感染。拟议研究的理由是基于几项观察和认识：（a）特定的粘土矿物已被用于治疗和治愈患有布鲁里溃疡的儿童，这是一种由溃疡分枝杆菌引起的坏死性皮肤感染;（B）用于治疗布鲁里溃疡的矿物质和另外两种矿物质的敏感性测试显示出对几种不同细菌病原体的杀菌或抑菌活性，包括耐抗生素菌株;和（c）使用抗菌矿物质将为局部感染提供一种廉价的替代治疗方法。考虑到目前治疗坏死性M.溃疡感染和其他危及生命的皮肤感染，如MRSA，我们的目标是通过研究粘土矿物的广谱抗菌特性和确定这些生物活性矿物的作用机制来验证特定矿物可以治愈细菌感染的观察结果。我们建议（1）评估天然纳米矿物质的广谱抗菌作用，（2）评估水合矿物质治疗小鼠局部细菌感染的能力，（3）确定天然抗菌矿物质的作用机制以及矿物质如何在结构和转录上影响细菌细胞。公共卫生相关性：通过使用抗菌药物敏感性测试，我们已经确定某些粘土矿物可以杀死或抑制病原菌的生长。在一个几乎没有新抗生素被发现的时代，我们正在研究天然纳米矿物作为替代治疗药物的潜在来源。利用微生物学，分子生物学，生物化学和医学/临床方法，我们试图确定细菌病原体对这些抗菌矿物质的敏感性模式，验证特定矿物质用于治疗局部皮肤感染的用途，并了解杀菌作用机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our capacity to properly address the worldwide incidence of infectious diseases lies in the ability to detect, prevent, and effectively treat these infections. With increasing overuse and misuse of antibiotics, infectious bacteria have become increasingly antibiotic-resistant. Therefore, identifying and analyzing inhibitory agents is a worthwhile endeavor since few new antibacterial compounds have been produced in recent decades. The use of natural nanominerals to heal skin infections has been evident since the earliest recorded history, and specific clay minerals may prove valuable in the treatment of bacterial diseases, including infections for which there are no effective antibiotics, such as Buruli ulcer and multi- drug resistant infections. The rationale for the proposed research is based on several observations and realizations: (a) Specific clay minerals have been used to treat and heal children afflicted with Buruli ulcer, a necrotic cutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans; (b) Susceptibility testing of the minerals that were used to treat Buruli ulcer and two additional minerals revealed bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity against several different bacterial pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant strains; and (c) Use of antibacterial minerals would provide an inexpensive, alternative therapeutic treatment for topical infections. Considering the lack of therapeutics for treating necrotic M. ulcerans infections and other life-threatening skin infections, such as MRSA, our goals are to validate the observations that specific minerals can heal bacterial infections by investigating broad-spectrum antibacterial characteristics of the clay minerals and determining the mechanism of action of these bioactive minerals. We propose to (1) assess the broad-spectrum antibacterial effects of natural nanominerals, (2) evaluate the ability of hydrated minerals to treat topical bacterial infections in mice, and (3) determine the mechanism of action of the natural antibacterial minerals and how the minerals structurally and transcriptionally affect bacterial cells. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Through the use of antimicrobial susceptibility testing, we have established that certain clay minerals kill or inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. In an era when few new antibiotics are being discovered, we are investigating natural nanominerals as a potential source of alternative therapeutic agents. Using microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and medical/clinical approaches, we seek to determine the susceptibility patterns of bacterial pathogens to these antibacterial minerals, validate the use of specific minerals for the treatment of topical skin infections, and understand the bactericidal mechanism of action.