The superbug known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is notorious for its highly resistant nature that most antibiotics won't work against it.
But now, a new study suggests that a breast cancer drug may offer hope for the treatment of MRSA infections.
The study, which appeared online on Oct. 13 in Nature Communications, was conducted by researchers from the University of California-San Diego and involved the popular breast cancer drug, tamoxifen.
Tamoxifen usually performs its action on the estrogen receptor to help fight breast cancer, but there were some evidence that showed the drug also has other effects on the body cells.
For instance, the drug can influence how a fatty molecule known as sphingolipids — ceramide in particular — can be produced. These lipids have an important role when it comes to how neutrophils, or white blood cells, behave.
To arrive at their findings, the researchers treated incubated neutrophils with the breast cancer drug and found that when the cells come in contact with the drug, they are more efficient in performing their bactericidal function.
The researchers also tested on animal models, injecting mice high levels of MRSA — high enough that it could kill them. A group of mice were given tamoxifen, while another group served as control.
The mice were observed for five days and researchers found that those who were not treated with tamoxifen did not survive.
Conversely, 35 percent of mice treated with the drug survived over the five-day observation period.
According to senior author Victor Nizet, who told the San Diego Union-Tribune, the results from the study are still on their preliminary stages since the researchers only conducted the experiments in a laboratory setting.
Nizet added that further testing is necessary before making the big shift of using tamoxifen as a cancer drug to a potent antibiotic against the tough MRSA.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are natural residents of the skin and nose of healthy individuals. Overtime these bacteria develop resistance to common antibiotics due to poor compliance to the drug regimen.
MRSA can be prevented by observing proper hygiene and hand washing techniques.
