Used to be that sick kids got lollypops after a visit with the doctor. But in some cases candy can be more than a reward—it can be part of the therapy. Because scientists have found that, [--1--] chronic infections, sugar can [--2--] of antibiotics. The study appears in the journal Nature. [James Collins, Mark Brynildsen and Kyle Allison, Metabolite-enabled eradication of bacterial persisters by aminoglycosides]

Chronic infections can be caused by persistent bacteria that have learned how to [--3--] until all the antibiotics are gone. They’re not exactly antibiotic resistant, so they don’t have any special drug-destroying mutations. They just power down, metabolically speaking, and then wait until the coast is clear (of antibiotics) to come back to life. Which is why the poor patient just can’t seem to clear the infection.

To eliminate such [--4--] bacteria, scientists at Boston University searched for a way to jump start the bugs’ metabolism. And they found that sugar is just what the doctor ordered. Administering sugar along with an antibiotic called gentamicin cured mice with chronic urinary tract infections, and kept the bacteria from spreading to their kidneys.

So a [--5--] of sugar does more than make the medicine go down. It helps the medicine take the microbes down.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
in battling boost the effectiveness lay low stealthy spoonful
服完药后吃点糖 每次看完医生后,小孩子就会得到棒棒糖做奖励。但是,有时候糖果并不仅仅只是一个奖励,它也是治疗的一部分。科学家们发现,在治疗慢性传染病时,糖分可以提高抗生素的疗效。该研究发表在《自然》期刊上。【James Collins, Mark Brynildsen and Kyle Allison, 氨基咁类抗生素破坏细菌的代谢持久性】 引起的慢性感染的持久性细菌在抗生素小时前会维持低调的状态。这并不是完全的抗药性表现,也就是说它们没有任何的抗药性突变。从新陈代谢的角度讲,它们仅仅是处于一种休眠状态,等抗生素的威胁过后重新开始活跃,这也是受感染的病人久久无法痊愈的原因。 为清除这种隐秘的细菌,波士顿大学的科学家们找到一种迅速紊乱细菌的新陈代谢。他们发现糖正是他们要找的东西。将糖和艮他霉素一起给小老师服用可治愈慢性尿路感染,阻止细菌在老鼠肾脏内繁殖。