Doctors utilized a medication commonly used for UTIs to effectively cure a
patient's uncommon brain infection.
According to Science magazine, a long-used medication for uti may also treat "brain-eating" amoeba
infections, which kill the majority of those who catch them .
A recent case report that depicts a 54-year-old man with the amoeba
Balamuthia mandrillaris invading his brain and was published in the journal
Emerging Infectious Diseases in January serves as evidence of the drug's potential. According to
the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the single-celled organism can enter the body through skin wounds and
cuts as well as through the lungs when it is breathed. It is found in dust,
dirt, and water (CDC). Once in the circulation, the amoeba can move to the
brain, where it can cause an extremely uncommon sickness called
"granulomatous amebic encephalitis," which kills 90% of those who have
it.
The CDC states that the illness "may seem moderate at first but might
develop more severe over weeks to many months."
The patient in the case report originally sought care for an unexplained
seizure at a hospital in Northern California. His left side of the brain had
a tumor that was encircled by edema, according to an MRI. The patient was
then sent to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical
Center, where specialists obtained samples of the patient's brain tissue and
the transparent fluid encasing his or her brain and spinal cord. The man's
brain contained B. mandrillaris, according to this research.
The patient's doctors suggested an extensive prescription of antiparasitic,
antibiotic, and antifungal medications after contacting the CDC. As the
primary author of the case study and an infectious disease
physician-scientist at UCSF,
Dr. Natasha Spottiswoode stated to Science, "It's what's advised since it was what occurred
to be used in patients who lived." Unfortunately, the medication had serious
adverse reactions, including renal failure, and the patient still had
amoebic infections.
Spottiswoode looked up a 2018 study from UCSF researchers that was
published in the journal
mBio, which revealed proof that the antibiotic nitroxoline may kill B.
mandrillaris in lab conditions. The medical team requested authorization
from the Food and Drug Administration to administer the medication as it is
permitted in Europe but not the United States. They gained approval, began
the patient on nitroxoline, and saw dramatic recovery within a week.
The patient was soon released from the hospital and continued to take
nitroxoline and other medications at home. His doctors eventually want to
have him stop taking the meds. Doctors from UCSF are managing the case of a
second B. mandrillaris-infected patient who has begun taking nitroxoline in
the meantime. According to Science, they are observing comparable
benefits.
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