Efflux Pump Inhibitor Antimicrobial Material for Resistant Infections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current antibiotic treatments for microbial infections are becoming ineffective due to antibiotic resistance, and the discovery of new antibiotics has stalled, necessitating a new approach to effectively treat infections.
Innovation Solution
Developing an antimicrobial material containing an efflux pump inhibitor soluble in a non-polar solvent, which blocks microbial efflux pumps, leading to the accumulation of toxic levels of the solvent within microbial cells, thereby inhibiting growth and causing cell death, and applying this material to the infected site using impermeable coverings or delivery methods like band-aids and gels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional antibiotics are used to treat microbial infections, then infections can be treated effectively, but microbial resistance develops making the antibiotics increasingly ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an efflux pump inhibitor as an intermediary substance that mediates between the non-polar solvent and the microbial cell. The inhibitor blocks the efflux pump mechanism, preventing the microbe from expelling the solvent, thereby making the microbe susceptible to the solvent's toxic effects. This intermediary approach allows treatment of resistant infections without directly using traditional antibiotics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the treatment by using non-polar solvents with specific properties (low toxicity to mammalian cells, high toxicity to microbes when accumulated). By adjusting the solvent's molecular weight, chain length, and purity parameters, the treatment achieves selective toxicity against microbes while sparing host cells, overcoming the limitations of traditional antibiotics.
2Reliability
If non-polar solvents are applied directly to microbial cells, then microbial growth is inhibited, but the solvents are rapidly removed by efflux pumps reducing effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The efflux pump inhibitor is applied preliminarily or concurrently with the non-polar solvent to block the efflux pump mechanism before the solvent can be expelled. This preliminary action prevents the microbe from developing resistance mechanisms during treatment, ensuring sustained accumulation of the solvent inside the cell and prolonged duration of action.
Solution Approach 2:
The combination of efflux pump inhibitor and non-polar solvent creates a continuous useful action by maintaining solvent accumulation inside microbial cells throughout the treatment period. The inhibitor ensures continuous blockade of efflux pumps, preventing solvent removal and maintaining toxic intracellular concentrations throughout the treatment duration.
3Reliability
If efflux pump inhibitors and non-polar solvents are combined, then microbial susceptibility increases, but the treatment requires complex application methods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the efflux pump inhibitor and non-polar solvent into a single combined treatment formulation. This merging simplifies the application process by eliminating the need for separate administration of multiple agents, reducing device complexity while maintaining the synergistic effect that increases microbial susceptibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The non-polar solvent serves multiple functions: it acts as both the active toxic agent against microbes and the delivery vehicle for the efflux pump inhibitor. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying the overall treatment system while maintaining effective microbial susceptibility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method significantly reduces or eliminates microbial infections by at least 99.99% and can be used in conjunction with new antibiotics, providing a novel treatment approach that overcomes antibiotic resistance.
Implementation Method 1
microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, can be susceptible to mildly toxic non-polar solvents such as hydrocarbons, but they have developed specific systems known as efflux pumps (e.g., RND efflux pumps, MFS pumps, and ABC pumps) to remove (extrude) the non-polar solvents out of the cell
Implementation Method 2
the microbial cell becomes susceptible to the non-polar solvent by the action of the efflux pump inhibitor which blocks or compete the pumps effectively blocking the efflux of non-polar solvents which leads to the accumulation of non-polar solvent inside the microbial cells to toxic levels that lead to microbial growth inhibitor and microbial cell death
Data Source
AI summary
A method of treating microbial infections that entails producing a space over the infected site by covering such site with an impermeable material and then filling such space with an antimicrobial material (in the form of a solution, cream, gel, colloid, etc) comprising an efflux pump inhibitor soluble in a non-polar solvent is provided. The antimicrobial material can also be applied in multiple other ways such as a cream or released from a band-aid or gauze. Such treatment method may also be used with newly discovered antibiotics.