Humble red berry could be the answer to deadly superbugs

Hospital ward
MRSA is becoming resistant to antibiotics and can be acquired in hospital Credit: Peter Byrne




It essentially disarms the MRSA bacteria, preventing it from excreting the toxins it uses as weapons to damage tissuesProfessor Cassandra Quave, Emory University

Last year a Government-commissioned report predicted the problem of antimicrobial resistance could cause 10 million deaths worldwide by 2050 and “return medicine to the dark ages”, by rendering useless common drugs to prevent infections following surgery.



The approach, known as quorum quenching, potentially offers doctors a far better tool for beating infections such as pneumonia or those acquired through surgery, because the peppertree compounds leave the helpful bacteria intact, rather than weakening the whole immune system.

Jeremy Hunt is offering hospitals cash to crack down on infections Credit: Telegraph

It also narrows the opportunity for pathogens to develop resistance.

“It essentially disarms the MRSA bacteria, preventing it from excreting the toxins it uses as weapons to damage tissues,” said Cassandra Quave, assistant professor of Biology at Emory University in Georgia.


Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the new study describes how the peppertree compounds were used to successfully treat the skin lesions of MRSA-infected mice, without damaging the tissue.

The Brazilian peppertree is native to South America, but is also abundant in much of Florida and is becoming more common in parts of neighbouring Alabama and Georgia, as well as in Texas and California.

Professor Quave said it was not surprising that, as a weed, the peppertree had a powerful chemical make-up.

“Persistent, weedy plants tend to have a chemical advantage in their ecosystems, which may help protect them from diseases so they can more easily spread in a new environment,” she said.

Last November Jeremy Hunt said NHS hospitals would be paid more for cutting infection rates and ordered them to publish figures reflecting how often staff wash their hands as part of a new drive against superbugs such as MRSA and E. coli.

The Health Secretary said organisations which cut infection rates by 10 per cent, prevent urinary tract infections and use antibiotics appropriately will receive a share of a £45 million pot in 2017-18.