Gene Mutation Helps Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) Tolerate Antibiotics

A mutation in the reIA gene of a bacterium was discovered to tolerate naturally effective antibiotic therapy. Researchers from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital introduced the antibiotic to a 6-week-old infant suffering from acute myeloid leukemia.

The mutation stimulated the binding reaction pathway. The bacteria utilize this to live and tolerate antibiotics causing high levels of the signaling molecule called alarmone. This study was published on January 3, 2017 at the journal, mBio.

The infant underwent chemotherapy and it wiped out her white blood cells, a human's natural killer cells. Following the cancer treatment, she developed a serious blood infection calledvancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, or VRE. It's a common case in immunocompromised patients but the condition was dreadful.

"She was very, very ill and was in and out of the intensive care unit during this time," co-author Joshua Wolf, MBBS said. He was one of the St. Jude doctors who gave medical attention to the sick infant.

According to CIDRAP, physicians introduced antibiotic treatment using the antibiotics vancomycin and meropenem, but there's no effect. This was because the infection was stimulated by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium  (VRE) which researchers discovered following blood cultures. It's a highly dominant bacterium that can be hard to destroy.

The team perceived that they were handling a tough bacterial contagion directly from the start. It is because the patient is immunocompromised and VRE is gruelling to treat, Wolf said. "Everything was already stacked against this kid," he stated in a press release.

The medical team eventually stirred to other treatment alternatives. They treated the infant with antibiotic agents such as linezolid, daptomycin, gentamycin, and quinupristin-dalfopristin. However, these antibiotics didn't treat the VRE infection.

The infant was then managed with white blood cells' transfusion. This was with the expectation of providing the patient's immune system some aptness to despatch the bacteria, Wolf explained.

The infant completed her therapy, and finally she recovered after 28 days of treatment. However, the infection was eliminated only when her immune system went back into normal.