Katharina Buczek
“When we compared scorpionfish BPI to those of other organisms, we discovered its exceptional activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” added Holzinger.
P. aeruginosa is a versatile, rod-like bacterium that falls under the gram-negative category. You can find it in diverse settings like soil, water, and even human skin.
Its ability to adapt and survive in many different conditions makes it especially robust and sometimes tough to tackle. Additionally, it is an opportunistic pathogen, meaning it is able to cause infections, mainly in people with weakened immune systems or other existing health issues.
Yet, according to Holzinger, the scorpionfish protein was able to work “impressively fast,” effectively killing the bacteria within just one to three hours.
The BPI from scorpionfish takes a different approach than standard antibiotics– targeting the bacteria’s cell wall. This makes it a highly effective weapon against infections.
However, before BPI can be recommended as a treatment option, it needs to undergo testing in animal models specifically designed for cystic fibrosis to ensure it’s both effective and safe.
“If proven effective in animals and people, non-human BPI may provide new therapeutic options for difficult-to-treat bacterial infections,” concluded Dr. Sigrid Bülow, a microbiology specialist from the Institute of Clinical Microbiology and Hygiene.
“Developing non-human BPI therapies may benefit not only patients with cystic fibrosis but others impacted by severe infections with multiple drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.”
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in eLife, visit the link here.
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