During a study led by Washington State University, scientists found a phenomenon called “bacterial vampirism”, under which the bacteria are attracted towards the human blood.
The researchers said that the discovery of bacteria – Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter koseri, could pave way for innovations in medicines to treat people with bloodstream infections.
“Bacteria infecting the bloodstream can be lethal,” said Arden Baylink, a professor at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and corresponding author for the research. “We learned some of the bacteria that most commonly cause bloodstream infections actually sense a chemical in human blood and swim toward it.”
The study published in the journal eLife, noted that the deadly bacteria are attracted to serine, an amino acid found in human blood.
For the study, the scientists simulated intestinal bleeding by injecting microscopic amounts of serum, and watching bacteria move to the source.
“The response is rapid — it takes less than a minute for the disease-causing bacteria to find the serum,” the University said.
The researchers believe that serine is one of the components of the human blood that the bacteria can sense and consume.
“By learning how these bacteria are able to detect sources of blood, in the future we could develop new drugs that block this ability. These medicines could improve the lives and health of people with inflammatory bowel diseases who are at high risk for bloodstream infections,” Glenn said.
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