The mixture, created according to a 9th century Old English medicine, killed up to 90 percent of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, one of the antibiotic-resistant strains of this bacterium that causes barley in the eyes.
How doctors managed to recreate and experimentally test an ancient medicine, reports New Scientist.
The idea for the project was born out of conversations between microbiologist Freya Harrison and a historian specializing in medieval England. They decided to test the recipe from Bald's Leechbook in practice.
It sounds like this: "take leeks and garlic in equal amounts, mix well … take wine and bile of a young bull, mix with leek … and let it settle in a copper vessel for nine days."
The most difficult thing was to find authentic ingredients: even the most primitive varieties of onions and garlic differ from medieval ones. The wine was taken vintage, from a winery in the south of England, the owners of which make the drink according to old recipes. Bile was not difficult to find: bile salts from cows are now being produced as a dietary supplement for patients who have had their gallbladder removed. Instead of expensive copper vessels, glass bottles coated with a layer of copper were used.
Nine days later, the drug killed all soil bacteria that got into it from onions and garlic. “The mixture began to disinfect itself. It was the first hint that our crazy idea would work,”said Harrison.
Then the drug was tested on skin fragments of mice infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These bacteria in humans cause barley in the eyes - and the ancient medicine killed 90 percent of pathogenic microorganisms. Only the antibiotic vancomycin, the main drug used in the treatment of MRSA, had the same effect.
To the surprise of scientists, the ingredients of the drug gave the desired effect only together. It is not yet clear whether they reinforce each other or trigger the synthesis of new compounds with antibacterial action. In addition, British scientists were lucky - attempts by American specialists to create an antimicrobial agent using the same recipe in 2005 ended in failure.
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Harrison hopes the ancient remedy could be useful in treating skin infections caused by MRSA, such as leg ulcers in diabetics. She will talk about her discovery at the conference of the British Society for General Microbiology, which takes place March 30 - April 02 in Birmingham.