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However, in a publication, Hugh Rosen, et. al., Science, Vol. 283, 5402, 29 Jan 1999, pp. 703 - 706, provided hope for alternatives in the future. Researchers at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, N.J. reported the molecular structure and biological activity of a new beta lactam antibiotic, L-786,392. The in vitro test results of the experimental compound suggested it to have improved antibiotic activity over vancomycin and less concern for immunotoxicity. Also, other researchers led by Assistant Professor J. Eric Gouaux at Columbia University have determined the molecular mechanism of hemolysis, which refers to the bacterial destruction of healthy cells through the action of hemolysin, Nat. Struct. Biol., 6, 134 (1999), Science,274, 1859 (1996). The paper is generally described in an article in Chemical & Engineering News, Volume 77, Number 9, March 1, 1999.
Fortunately for the patient, surgery on the infected area plus iv treatment with vancomycin controlled the infection. Particularly, since L-786,392 proved ineffective in vivo. The convalescence period was over 10 weeks due to cellulitis, a condition where the vascular system has been destroyed by bacterial toxins and the local vascular cell structure needs time to regenerate. Alarmingly strains of staphylococcus spp. that are resistant to vancomycin are appearing, but Boger & Crowley have synthesized a -CH2- reduced carbonyl derivative of vancomycin, which resistant strains are100x more sensitive to than regular vancomycin. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 (9), 2885 -2892, 2006. dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja0572912 S0002-7863(05)07291-4 Web Release Date: February 4, 2006; See also Chemical & Engineering News, Feb 13, 2006.
The following images are post surgical.
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