Antibacterial Agents ( ‘AncientBiotics’ ) From Nature

[Wake Up World]: With antimicrobial-resistant infections on the rise, scientists are now looking with interest at ancient medieval medical texts, which include various recipes to treat conditions that were likely microbial infections and/or cases of dysbios where certain naturally occurring microbes grew opportunistically and out of proportion to its natural ratios. One such remedy that’s 1,000 years old included crushed garlic and a second substance in the Allium species combined with wine and oxgall, or bovine bile, then left to sit in a brass or bronze vessel for nine days and nights.

“The ingredients combined to treat this infection appear promising to the modern microbiologist,” researchers wrote in the journal mBio. They reconstructed the remedy, which they believe was used to treat styes, then known as “wen,” which are caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

The “ancientbiotics” turned out to be effective, with the study noting their “activity relies on the combined activity of several antimicrobial ingredients” and highlights the “untapped potential of premodern remedies for yielding novel therapeutics at a time when new antibiotics are desperately needed.” In other instances, garlic was used by ancient Greece, Rome, India and China for infections and respiratory ailments, while in ancient Egypt, China, Serbia, Greece and Rome moldy bread was applied as a topical treatment for infections. Other ancient civilizations relied on herbs, honey and, in some cases, animal feces to treat infection...<<<Read More>>>...