This New Way To Treat Infections is 'Shocking'

A new study introduces a revolutionary way of treating infections via electrochemical therapy (ECT) that helps enhance the ability of antibiotics to destroy the microorganisms. The team of researchers led by Tagbo Niepa (the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering) has introduced this treatment to help prevent infections in the blood and several other organs.

The overwhelming presence of antibiotic-resistant microbes especially the fungal growth on metal-based implants has been a persistent problem in modern healthcare. The researchers sought to find out the antifungal properties of low-level electrochemical treatment options delivered using titanium electrodes against fungi Candida albicans.

Their findings showed that the fungal growth can be controlled with electrical currents which could reduce the number of viable planktonic cells by 99.7% and biofilm cells by about 99.99%. Moreover, they also found the ability of such electrochemical treatment to potentiate fluconazole killing activity. The study has paved the way towards developing and optimizing a new therapeutic strategy that can sensitize and facilitate the eradication of antibiotic-resistant microbes from implantable materials and other infections like UTI.

"We live in a crisis with antibiotics: most of them are failing. Because of the drug- resistance that most microbes develop, antimicrobials stop working, especially with recurring infections," says the lead author Dr. Niepa, "With this technique, the current doesn't discriminate as it damages the microbe cell membrane. It's more likely that antibiotics will be more effective if the cells are simultaneously challenged by the permeabilizing effects of the currents. This would allow even drug-resistant cells to become susceptible to treatment and be eradicated," she added.

The new treatment includes passing a weak electrical current through the metal-based implant to damage the microorganism’s cell membranes without harming the healthy tissue surrounding it. This process also increases permeability and makes the microbes further susceptible too antibiotic drugs. Infections recur because most antibiotics specifically work on cells that are going to replicate and not work on dormant microbes. The new ECT method makes electrochemical stress in all the cells and sensitizes them in order to make them susceptible to antibiotics.

The researchers expect that this new strategy will change the way infections will be treated. They have currently focused on one of the most common and harmful fungi associated with dental implants- C.albicans. It is hoped that this new finding will help advance the use of electrochemical approaches to treat both nosocomial infections and other clinical cases.