Scientists discover how bacteria develops resistance to antibiotics

The antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (generic)

This is good news.  This means that older but proven antibiotics with excellent safety profile that only went out of circulation because resistance to it developed due to it's over use can now be used again.  This will also lessen the pressure to constantly develop new antibiotics. 

This could probably also mean that MRSA infections and deaths will significantly go down.

These nitric oxide synthase inhibitors are also now presently being tested, so expect that we see this compound to be combined in some older antibiotics much like how Clavunalic acid (beta-lactamase inhibitor) was combined with the drug Amoxicillin to produce Co-Amoxiclav in the very near future.

However, it seems that it is expected that this nitric oxide synthase inhibitor will have a more broad use and can be combined to a lot more antibiotics and even on non-antibiotic drugs like NSAIDs so this discovery is really significant.

NO enzymes help bacteria resist antibiotics

Excerpts:

Scientists have discovered how bacteria fend off a wide range of antibiotics, and blocking that defence mechanism could give existing antibiotics more power to fight infections.

Researchers at New York University report in the journal Science, that bacteria produce certain nitric oxide-producing enzymes to resist antibiotics.

Drugs that inhibit these enzymes can make antibiotics much more potent, making even deadly superbugs like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA succumb, they say.

*Read full article: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/11/2682968.htm