One of the most challenging problems facing the United States healthcare establishment is combatting hospital-acquired infections caused by bacteria that have developed antibiotic resistance. Several species of bacteria are responsible for this serious threat, including the Gram-positive, opportunistic bacterium <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> (Group B Streptococcus, GBS). Many strategies are currently employed in the clinic to prevent and treat GBS infections, one of which is combination therapy in which an adjuvant is administered along with the drug as this not only helps increase its efficacy, but also helps with the antibiotic resistance problem by lowering the dosages of the drugs required. In the Townsend Lab we are interested in exploring the putative antimicrobial activity conferred by human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and its ability to act as an adjuvant. In recent studies, a heterogeneous mixture of HMOs was found to possess antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against GBS, as well as increase the efficacy of intracellular-targeting antibiotics through increased cell membrane permeability. Following up on the combination studies of HMOs with antibiotics in GBS, we expanded our studies to examine how HMOs will react when in coculture with commensal bacteria. We hypothesize that due to observed GBS growth inhibition in the presence of HMOs, cocultures with will allow HMOs to replace antibiotics in treatment of GBS and other multidrug resistant infections.

Antimicrobial properties of human milk oligosaccharides in group B streptococcus

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.