An experimental treatment for urinary tract infections has easily passed its first test in animals, alleviating weeks-long infections in mice in as little as six hours.
“This drug can block the spread of the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections far better than any other previously reported compound,” says senior author Scott J. Hultgren, PhD, the Helen L Stoever Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “If it has similar effects in humans, the potential applications would be very exciting.”
The compound is a novel derivative of the natural sugar called mannose, making it unlikely to be toxic. Because the body normally directs excess sugars to the kidney for disposal in the urine, the new drug is naturally sent to exactly where it needs to be to treat infections of the urinary tract.
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