Anti-brucellosis therapy
2006/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
Concepción Lecároz, researcher at the University of Navarra, has developed a new therapy against brucellosis. This zoonosis affects every year 500,000 people worldwide. It is a fairly common disease among people walking with livestock, because despite the disease of animals is very contagious for man.
Brucellosis is very sensitive to most antibiotics, but nevertheless, they observed that between 5% and 15% of humans become ill again. Long-term combined therapy was therefore essential.
To reduce the infection they have managed to transport antibiotic gentamicin to the cells where the bacteria are found through different particles. This facilitates their accumulation in infected organs. These biodegradable systems are designed for the controlled release of the antibiotic, obtaining suitable therapeutic results with lower doses. From now on it is possible that this method can also be used in humans.
