ZIOC scientists developed new antimicrobial agents to combat the spread of resistant cultures of pathogenic microorganisms

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses are one of the biggest global public health problems. The development of resistance to biocides in clinical strains of microorganisms leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of therapeutic and preventive measures in hospitals and is an important factor contributing to the spread of healthcare-associated infections. In 2019, diseases associated with bacterial resistance accounted for more deaths than HIV or malaria. Thus, the development of antibacterial agents with a stable effect even after prolonged contact with pathogens without the formation of resistance is an important task of modern science.

One of the most promising compounds in this direction is quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), which are a class of versatile and effective antimicrobial agents that are widely used in medicine, food industry, and agriculture. QAS are a type of cationic surfactant with disinfectant and deodorizing properties, and can also be used as a means to prevent the growth and destruction of pathogenic biofilms.

In one of the recent studies, scientists from the Academician N.K. Kochetkov Laboratory of Carbohydrates and Biocides of ZIOC developed new types of multi-cationic QAS based on an alkyl cyanuric linker. The resulting compounds were tested for antibacterial, antifungal, and antibiofilm activity against 12 strains of pathogenic microorganisms, including multi-resistant bacteria and fungi. The influence of key structural parameters, such as lipophilicity, the length of alkyl tails and alkyl bridges between the nitrogen atoms of the triazine and pyridine rings, on the biocidal activity of the compounds was established. The leading compounds were superior in their antimicrobial properties to widely used commercial antiseptics, and also did not cause the formation of bacterial resistance for more than a month of use, remaining at the same levels of effectiveness. The demonstrated work will serve as a basis for further research on multi-cationic QACs as a method of combating resistant cultures of pathogenic microorganisms.

Source:

Mary A. Seferyan, Evgeniya A. Saverina, Nikita A. Frolov, Elena V. Detusheva, Olga A. Kamanina, Vyacheslav A. Arlaypov, Irina I. Ostashevskaya, Valentine P. Ananikov, Anatoly. N. Vereshchagin Multicationic Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Framework for Combating Bacterial Resistance // ACS Infect. Dis., 2023, 9, 1206–1220. DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.2c00546.