CROCLIST: Alligator Blood Antibiotic

Wed Apr 9 18:50:28 CEST 2008

Hi, Carlos.

The conditions you mention are precisely the stress factors Adam was talking about (wasn't sure whether you were being sarcastic??). 

Eliminating as much of these as possible, or reducing them, will help reduce stress. Of course, on a commercial farm, there is always going to be stress, but you just need to implement changes that reduce this wherever possible.

I notice you are in Bolivia. If you are going to the CSG meeting in a few months, then I am sure you will have plenty of people to ask advice from.

Colin

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 20:22:34 -0400From: cormachea at gmail.comTo: abritton at crocodilian.com; croclist at lists.gatorhole.comSubject: Re: CROCLIST: Alligator Blood AntibioticCC: Hello Alan:Thanks for your comments. Strees, uh? How can I get rid of that! It even attacks humans for crying out loud. These are some of the conditions that I see in my farm: crowded conditions, temperature around 24C, daily handling. Can any of these cause stress?Regards
On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 9:56 AM, Adam Britton <abritton at crocodilian.com> wrote:
Hi Carlos,The biggest problem for their immune system is stress, which can severelycompromise their immune response to infections.  Disease is relativelycommon in captive crocodilians because of this fact.  Some species are moresusceptible to stress than others.  Chronic (ie. long-term) stress isusually the biggest problem, where animals appear to be behaving normallybut limitations within their environment or negative social factors can havea slow but deleterious effect on individuals.  Some individuals can last formonths or even years under conditions of chronic stress, so that whendisease becomes apparent it isn't always obvious what the cause is.  It alsosupports the idea that the best antibiotic for crocodilians is to eliminatestress and let their own bodies deal with their disease (although a helpinghand doesn't go amiss).Best wishes,
Adam-----Original Message-----From: croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com
[mailto:croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com] On Behalf Of Carlos OrmacheaSent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 11:13 PMTo: The Crocodilian ListSubject: Re: CROCLIST: Alligator Blood AntibioticThis theory is very interesting; however in my experience we found that inthe early stages, our 'lagartos' or 'jacarés' are indeed dying due tobacterial diseases. Please comment.Best regards.Carlos OrmacheaSanta Cruz, Bolivia

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 11:35 PM, <sgrenard at si.rr.com> wrote:       I seem to recall that research on crocs elsewhere was proceedingalong these lines. Today Louisiana researchers announced research on gatorblood. There are many articles on Google News, here's one of them:http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Alligator_Blood_May_Help_Fight_MRSA_16076.html       Alligator Blood May Help Fight MRSA       By Alice Turner 00:47, April 8th 2008       Recent studies revealed that alligator blood may hold the key tofighting antibiotic-resistant infections such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus).Researchers at McNeese State University in Louisianaannounced during the American Chemical Society conference, that their studyon alligator blood could lead to finding treatments for infections caused byulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."Apparently, alligators cansuffer serious injuries during fierce territorial battles but heal quicklydespite contact with bacteria, viruses and fungi.Although in its earlystages, the research showed that protein found in blood extracted fromAmerican Alligators can successfully destroy 23 strains of bacteria. "We'revery excited about the potential of these alligator blood proteins as bothantibacterial and antifungal agents," said study co-author Dr. MarkMerchant, a biochemist at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La, whohit up on the idea of studying alligator blood after noticing the creatureshave a remarkable ability to resist infection, despite living in swamp waterteeming with bacteria and often losing limbs in territorial tussles."There'sa real possibility that you could be treated with an alligator blood productone day."Additionally, the blood also managed to deplete and destroy asignificant amount of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. However, there is noguarantee that the blood will work in humans, since it has only been testedin the laboratory. "We need new antibiotics. Anything like this is a stepforward," said Dr. Stuart Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts UniversitySchool of Medicine, who's an expert in antibiotic-resistant infections andis familiar with the new study. "But there are hurdles that this kind ofantibiotic poses that others might not."Previous studies conducted by otherscientists including some at the University of Georgia in Athens and theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville, had already showed that alligatorshave a particularly strong immune system which can protect them againstfungi, viruses, and bacteria without being previously exposed to them.Theexperiment involved capturing the alligators, their jaws taped shut andblood drawn from the jugular vein. Advanced tests on their blood showed thattiny amounts of proteins extracted from the disease-fighting white bloodcells killed a wide range of bacteria, including hospital superbug MRSA andfood poisoning bugs E coli and Salmonella.Chemists are now working toidentify the exact chemical structures of the anti-microbial proteins anddetermine which proteins are most effective at killing different microbes.The alligator blood extract may contain at least four promising substances,they estimate.© 2007 - 2008 - eFluxMedia

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