Complete Survival when lethal Bacteria are fed rather than killed (Proof of Concept )

Researchers report that giving mice dietary iron supplements enabled them to survive a normally lethal bacterial infection and resulted in later generations of those bacteria being less virulent. The approach demonstrates in preclinical studies that non-antibiotic-based strategies — such as nutritional interventions — can shift the relationship between the patient and pathogens away from antagonism and toward cooperation.

Karina K. Sanchez, Grischa Y. Chen, Alexandria M. Palaferri Schieber, Samuel E. Redford, Maxim N. Shokhirev, Mathias Leblanc, Yujung M. Lee, Janelle S. Ayres. Cooperative Metabolic Adaptations in the Host Can Favor Asymptomatic Infection and Select for Attenuated Virulence in an Enteric Pathogen. Cell, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.07.016