$1.1M grant to fight STD
A GOLD Coast medical institute has been awarded $1.1m to develop new antibiotics to treat a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is now considered a public health threat.
Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics has been awarded the National Health and Medical Research grant funding.
The STD gonorrhoea has been a growing problem on the Gold Coast in recent years.
There were 744 gonorrhoea cases on the Glitter Strip last year, compared to 638 in 2017.
This meant it was the fourth most common illness or condition recorded on the Coast in 2021, behind chlamydia cases (2898), chickenpox (1415) and Campylobacter gastro (1134), according to Queensland Health’s notifiable conditions report.
Covid-19 cases were recorded separately.
Due to the recent emergence of multidrug resistant superbugs, gonorrhoea is now classified as an immediate public-health threat, with no vaccine available.
Led by institute director Professor Mark von Itzstein, the funding will help a team delve further into the chemistry and potential application of new “zinc binder” drugs currently in development.
The team tested a known Alzheimers zinc-binding drug candidate (PBT2) for its antimicrobial activity and showed that it killed multidrug resistant bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng), which causes gonorrhoea.
“Applying our extensive experience in the fields of drug discovery and Neisseria research, we aim to develop a novel class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea and, potentially, other bacterial infections,’’ Prof von Itzstein said.
“We believe that PBT2 can serve as a model compound for the development of novel, highly effective, zinc-binding antibiotics for use against multi drug resistant Ng.”
Deputy Director of the Institute for Glycomics Professor Michael Jennings said the World Health Organisation estimated there were 106 million cases of gonorrhoea worldwide annually.
“In 2017, the Centre for Disease Control reported that it is the second-most reported infectious disease in the US and the Australian Department of Health reported a 63 per cent increase between 2012 and 2016,” he said.
“Two thirds of that increase was among women, with the rate for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women 15 times that of non-Indigenous women.”
The STD affects the female cervix and male urethra and can cause long-term damage to the reproductive tract, resulting in infertility.
Most gonococcal infections are asymptomatic and can lead to pelvic disease and an increased risk of HIV co-transmission.