Antibiotic Resistance

CURRENT RESEARCH: ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing species of mycobacteria that causes skin and soft tissue infections post trauma and surgery, as well as broncho-pulmonary infections and acute respiratory failure in patients with tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis and other lung conditions.

The major threat posed by Mycobacterium abscessus is its extreme resistance to available antibiotics, making its infections very difficult to treat. In the Ghosh lab at the Wadsworth Center, researchers investigate how antibiotic resistance works in this mycobacteria in an effort to provide insight into how scientists may be able to develop drugs that work against it.

Pallavi Ghosh, assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences, recently described an unusual mechanism for Mycobacterium abscessus to hold resistance to macrolide antibiotics, a type of antibiotic from soil bacteria, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The novel mechanism of antibiotic resistance Ghosh and colleagues studied highlights the gaps in scientific understanding of antibiotic resistance— emphasizing the need for further study to help in treatment infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Ghosh was recently awarded a $2.4 million grant by NIH to further her study on antibiotic resistance of Mycobacterium abscessus.