Evening star., 1943-05-08
New Drug Promises
Great Advances in
War on Bacteria
Slight Chemical Variation
Of Pontothenic Acid
Now Undergoing Tests
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Stan Correspondent.

Star Stan Correspondent
LONDON, (By MaiD.-A drug
which promises to be the pioneer of
a new family of anti-infection agents
has just been announced here.
Not particularly potent in itself. it
is hailed as opening a new chapter
IN the most notable medical advance
of recent times-the development of
the sulfa drugs all over the world
and of the still unobtainable pencil
lin in England 1t was made to
order. according to new we'll estab-
lished theory.
The drug Is slight chemical var
iation of pantothenic acid, first syn
thesized in the United States two
years ago, which is one of the vita
minis essential to life and growth.
1t is found, in extremely minute
amounts, in all living things.
Starve Out Germs.
The present theory of the action
of the sulfa drugs is that they in
some way make unavailable to bac-
terra, such as pneumococci and
streptococci, a substance in the blood
which they require to increase their
numbers. This is para -amino-ben-
zolc acid, another vitamin, which re-
Gently has received much publicity as
an antidote for CRAVING Of the hair.
1t is essential both to man and
germ. Without it, the ''cocci' can
not multiply and are overcome by
the natural defense forces of the
body.
In the past year, however, it has
been found that there are some
strains Of these bacteria which are
not affected by the sulfa compounds.
Possibly they have undergone self
defensive mutations and the day
may come when most of them,
through a process of natural selec-
tion, will have overcome this unex-
pected barrier to their ravages.
Acting on this theory. Drs. Henry
McIlwaine and Frank Hawking OF
the Medical Research Council here,
deduced that pantothenic acid was
equally essential to both bacteria and
man and that a strain which had
become sulfa-immune could be hit
in a new quarter by any chemical
which would make the vitamin un-
available. The chemical variation
was found to do the trick, in the
test tube.
Test With Mice Fails.
Their work has been with rats
and mice infected with i'm
mune streptococci, pneumococci and
staphlycocci. For the first family
OF germs. the drug worked we'll with
rates, not at all with mice. 1t was
less effective against pneumococci
and useless against staphlycocci.
The failure with mice, the report
which has just appeared points out,
doubtless is due to the fact that
the level of pantothenic acid in the
blood of these animals is very high.
1t Is much lower in rats and much
lower still in man. No tests have
been made with human beings, but
Drs. McIlWaine and Hawking sug-
gest that extensive trials should be
made. Their sulfa immune strep-
tococci were from infected wounds
of soldiers.
The new drug is relatively easy
to manufacture, they point out, but
would be required in very large
quantities to be of much value. The
discovery is hailed by the journal
Of the British Medica! Association,
the Lancet, as of great potential
Importance.
Requests Experimentation.
The drug is much less potent
than any of the sulfa drugs and
very much less so than pencillin.
These, however, were hit upon
largely by accident and only in the
last year has there been any clear
understanding of their actual ef-
fects. Drs. McIlwaine and Hawking,
however, knew what they wanted
and went after it with no lost mo-
tions
The road is now clear ahead. 1t
is pointed out 1t will consist of
experimental determination of just
what various types of bacteria re-
quire to keep healthy and then
making drugs to order which will
render this unavailable. The new
drug, for example, had no effect on
staphlycocci. 1t may be that these
particular germs do not require
pantothenic acid in order to func-
ton But they certainly need
something and there is something
else which will render it unavail-
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