Common sweetener can destroy some of the most dangerous bacteria

Saccharin, a common artificial sweetener, may soon play a new medical role. Recent research shows it can destroy some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria.

“Antibiotic resistance is one of the major threats to modern medicine,” said Professor Ronan McCarthy, who led the study at Brunel University London.

“Procedures such as tooth extractions and cancer treatment often rely on antibiotics to prevent or treat infection. But doctors are increasingly facing cases where the drugs no longer work.”

Deadly pathogens are becoming resistant

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) caused 1.27 million deaths in 2019. Nearly five million deaths involved resistant infections.

The most dangerous bacteria include Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, both of which thrive in hospital settings.

The World Health Organization lists them among its highest-priority threats. These bacteria often infect those with weakened immune systems and resist most antibiotics.

How the sweetener destroys bacteria

“In exciting work led by our team, we’ve identified a novel antimicrobial – saccharin,” Professor McCarthy said. “Saccharin breaks the walls of bacterial pathogens, causing them to distort and eventually burst, killing the bacteria.”

This physical breakdown lets antibiotics enter the bacteria more easily. As a result, saccharin helps conventional drugs work better.

Saccharin has been used in food for over a century. It is considered safe for human consumption. Until now, though, little was known about the sweetener’s direct impact on bacteria.

DNA chaos: Inside bacterial cells

The study reveals saccharin disrupts more than bacterial walls. It also messes with DNA inside bacterial cells. Treated bacteria grow long and thin, unable to divide. Their DNA starts replicating out of control, especially away from the usual origin points.

Normally, DNA replication in bacteria starts at a site called the ori and ends at the ter. After saccharin treatment, the researchers observed far more ori and ter points than expected. This suggests multiple rounds of replication continue unchecked.

This DNA chaos may stem from saccharin triggering DNA repair processes. These repair systems start replication from damaged spots instead of the usual starting site. As a result, DNA builds up rapidly.

Sweetener weakens bacteria’s defense

Saccharin also changes how bacteria maintain their outer layers. The sweetener disrupts proteins and pathways involved in making and protecting the cell envelope. This weakens the bacteria’s defense, making them easier to kill.

The researchers found that saccharin caused bacteria to form strange bulges. These bulges eventually burst, killing the cell. This effect mimics what happens when bacteria are exposed to powerful β-lactam antibiotics.

Biofilms and resistant strains

Bacteria often form biofilms – sticky layers that protect them from antibiotics. Saccharin prevents bacteria from forming these biofilms and can also break down ones that already exist. It even worked on polymicrobial biofilms, which are tougher to treat.

Saccharin increased how well antibiotics entered resistant bacteria like A. baumannii. When researchers combined saccharin with carbapenem antibiotics, the treatment became far more effective. Drug-resistant bacteria showed reduced resistance.

Saccharin can treat wounds

To test real-world use, scientists embedded saccharin into hydrogels. These hydrogels were applied to burn wounds in a lab model using pig skin. The saccharin-infused gel outperformed silver-based wound dressings, cutting down bacterial infections significantly.

“Artificial sweeteners are found in many diet and sugar-free foods. We discovered that the same sweeteners you have with your coffee or in a ‘sugar-free’ drink could make some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria easier to treat,” said Professor McCarthy.

The fight against antibiotic resistance

The world may soon face a future where antibiotics no longer cure infections. This is because bacteria are changing and becoming stronger due to the heavy use of antibiotics in both medicine and farming.

When antibiotics are used too often, bacteria learn how to fight back, making treatments less effective. At the same time, scientists aren’t discovering many new antibiotics to replace the ones that are failing. This means common infections could become serious or even deadly again.

Without new solutions, the growing problem of antibiotic resistance puts millions of lives at risk and makes routine treatments more dangerous.

“This has created a dangerous situation,” said Professor McCarthy. “We urgently need new drugs to treat resistant infections – and saccharin could represent a new therapeutic approach with exciting promise.”

The study is published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

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