Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

A 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy with antistaphylococcal activity

Harrison, Freya; Roberts, Aled; Gabrilska, Rebecca; Rumbaugh, Kendra; Lee, Christina; Diggle, Stephen P.

A 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy with antistaphylococcal activity Thumbnail


Authors

Freya Harrison

Aled Roberts

Rebecca Gabrilska

Kendra Rumbaugh

Stephen P. Diggle



Abstract

Plant-derived compounds and other natural substances are a rich potential source of compounds that kill or attenuate pathogens that are resistant to current antibiotics. Medieval so- cieties used a range of these natural substances to treat conditions clearly recognizable to the modern eye as microbial infections, and there has been much debate over the likely efficacy of these treatments. Our interdisciplinary team, comprising researchers from both sciences and humanities, identified and reconstructed a potential remedy for Staphylococcus aureus infection from a 10th Century Anglo-Saxon Leechbook. The remedy repeatedly killed established S. aureus biofilms in an in vitro model of soft tissue infection and killed methicillin-resistance S. aureus (MRSA) in a mouse chronic wound model. While the remedy contained several ingredients that are individually known to have some antibacterial activity, full efficacy required the combined action of several ingredients, highlighting the scholarship of pre-modern doctors and the potential of ancient texts as a source of new antimicrobial agents.

Citation

Harrison, F., Roberts, A., Gabrilska, R., Rumbaugh, K., Lee, C., & Diggle, S. P. (2015). A 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy with antistaphylococcal activity. mBio, 6(4), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01129-15

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 14, 2015
Online Publication Date Aug 11, 2015
Publication Date Aug 11, 2015
Deposit Date Jan 28, 2016
Publicly Available Date Jan 28, 2016
Journal mBio
Print ISSN 2161-2129
Electronic ISSN 2150-7511
Publisher American Society for Microbiology
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 6
Issue 4
Article Number e01129
Pages 1-7
DOI https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01129-15
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/982631
Publisher URL http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/4/e01129-15
Contract Date Jan 28, 2016

Files






You might also like



Downloadable Citations