Combining carbon monoxide with the antibiotic metronidazole improved the antibiotic's efficacy in fighting H. pylori, according to a study published in Organic Letters.
Researchers developed a prodrug system that releases carbon monoxide, metronidazole and a fluorescent molecule used to monitor the release of carbon monoxide, when introduced to water. A prodrug is a drug that must undergo a chemical conversion before becoming an active pharmacological agent. The prodrug system used in this study became active when placed in water.
They examined the effect of only metronidazole against H. pylori bacteria in a culture dish and compared it to the prodrug system, with both metronidazole and carbon monoxide.
Pairing carbon monoxide with metronidazole "can sensitize bacteria toward the same antibiotic by 25-fold," said Binghe Wang, PhD, study author and director of the Center for Diagnostics & Therapeutics at Georgia State University in Atlanta. "It makes the bacteria much, much more sensitive to the antibiotic."