Patient engagement solutions are improving and lead to the provision of better healthcare service to patients. Researchers are making significant contribution to healthcare too.

According to a study published in Scientific Reports, molecules designed to inhibit toxin formation in bacteria could prove an effective alternative to antibiotics.

Researchers from Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University conducted various mouse models to assess the therapeutic molecules' ability to eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The molecules attach to a protein, which is responsible for making toxins in all Gram-positive bacterial species.

Senior study author Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine said that without the toxins, bacteria become harmless. They don’t need the toxins to survive, there is lesser pressure to develop resistance.

In one model, septic mice that was infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated a 100 percent survival rate when treated with the molecules.

In contrast, 70% of the untreated mice died. Researchers found the molecules offered similar efficacy to current antibiotics used to treat S. aureus.