Catfish mucus could be used to help fight superbugs

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Fish MUCUS could help fight hospital superbugs, according to a new study.

Scientists have extracted a compound with powerful antibacterial properties from the skin of farmed African catfish.

Although additional testing is needed to prove the compound is safe and effective for use as a future antibiotic, American researchers say it could one day represent a potent new tool against antimicrobial-resistant bacteria such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli.

Project leader Dr. Hedmon Okella, of the University of California, Davis, said: “The global public health threat due to antimicrobial resistance necessitates the search for safe and effective new antibacterial compounds.

“In this case, fish-derived antimicrobial peptides present a promising source of potential leads.”

For the study, the research team extracted several peptides - short chains of amino acids - from African catfish skin mucus and used machine learning algorithms to screen them for potential antibacterial activity.

They then chemically synthesized the most promising peptide, called NACAP-II, and tested its efficacy and safety on ESBL-E. coli and mammalian blood cells, respectively.

The testing showed that NACAP-II caused the bacteria to break open, or lyse, without appearing to harm the mammalian blood cells.

Dr. Okella said: “Preliminary findings indicate that this promising peptide candidate potentially disrupts the bacterial cell envelope to cause lysis at a very low concentration."

He explained that the place where the peptide was found - in the mucus on the skin of farmed African catfish - is not as unlikely as it may seem.

Dr. Okella said: "As anyone who has tried to hold one can attest, fish are enveloped in a slippery layer of mucus."

He said the mucus is known to protect the fish against infections by physically carrying germs off the skin and by producing antimicrobial compounds such as the one the researchers isolated.

Many existing medicines are based on compounds that were first found in nature, and scientists believe that marine and aquatic organisms represent a particularly rich - though largely untapped - source of bioactive compounds.

The team now plan to study the peptide’s effects in animal models and explore strategies to produce it inexpensively.

Dr. Okella added: “We are currently utilizing chemical synthesis to upscale the production of this peptide that we believe will one day be of use as drug candidate in the battle against antimicrobial resistance."

He presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Antonio.