Topical Anti-Infective Treats Diabetic Foot Infections from MRSA

MRSA infections are associated with more than 18,000 U.S. deaths each year.

A new study finds that a potentially deadly kind of infection called a MRSA (mer-sa) infection is most often acquired through hospital or other healthcare visits, and has become a major public health problem.  The researchers estimate that in the U.S., every 30 minutes someone dies from a serious form of this infection. 

Researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied thousands of methicillin (meth-ih-sill-in)-resistant staphylococcus (staff-ill-oh-cock-us) aureus (or-ee-us), or MRSA infections, and found that in about 27 percent of the cases, people got the infections while patients in hospitals.  About 14 percent got the infection in the community.  And about 58 percent got the infection after a healthcare encounter, such as dialysis or foot surgery.  The researchers say the benefits of healthcare still outweigh the risks, but healthcare settings need to do more to prevent such infections. 

Pexiganan, a recently developed treatment for diabetic foot ulcers has been shown to be effective in treating MSRA and  has been through phase three clinical trials but, is not yet approved by the FDA.

The science behind pexiganan… The African clawed frog was discovered to have antimicrobial skin peptides that allowed it to heal without infection, even when exposed to bacteria. Pexiganan is a manufactured 22-amino acid linear peptide which acts like the skin peptides of the frog.

According to a press release from Genaera Corporation:   Pexiganan is a 22-amino acid, linear peptide which is formulated as a cream and has a novel mechanism of action based on its ability to selectively disrupt the integrity of bacterial cell membranes. In addition, it has antimicrobial activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative organisms that commonly infect skin and soft tissue. Pexiganan is also effective against methycillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and has a low potential for induction of resistance and no cross-resistance with existing therapeutic antibiotics.

An interesting fact about pexiganan is that it is effective against MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). MRSA is a hospital-acquired staph infection that is resistant to many antiobiotic treatments. People who are hospitalized with diabetic foot ulcers have an increased risk of MRSA, because it is easy for MRSA to enter the body through contact with the wound. MRSA also is an emerging health threat in the community, with community-acquired cases of MRSA increasing in recent years.

Pexiganan would be intended as a supplementary treatment to be used in conjunction with current treatments for diabetic foot ulcers.

JAMA, Oct 16, 2007: MSRA: Press Release, Genaera Corporation- Pexiganan