Data from: A 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy with antistaphylococcal activity

Plant-derived compounds and other natural substances are a rich potential source of compounds that kill or attenuate pathogens that are resistant to current antibiotics. Medieval societies used a range of these natural substances to treat conditions clearly recognizable to the modern eye as microbial infections, and there has been much debate over the likely efficacy of these treatments. Our interdisciplinary team, comprising researchers from both sciences and humanities, identified and reconstructed a potential remedy for Staphylococcus aureus infection from a 10th century Anglo-Saxon leechbook. The remedy repeatedly killed established S. aureus biofilms in an in vitro model of soft tissue infection and killed methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in a mouse chronic wound model. While the remedy contained several ingredients that are individually known to have some antibacterial activity, full efficacy required the combined action of several ingredients, highlighting the scholarship of premodern doctors and the potential of ancient texts as a source of new antimicrobial agents.

植物源化合物及其他天然物质，是一类可杀灭或减弱对现有抗生素产生耐药性的病原体的极具潜力的化合物来源。中世纪社会曾使用多种此类天然物质，治疗在现代视角下可明确判定为微生物感染的病症，而这类疗法的实际疗效长期以来备受学界争议。我们的跨学科研究团队汇集了自然科学与人文科学领域的研究者，从一部10世纪的盎格鲁-撒克逊医书（Anglo-Saxon leechbook）中，发掘并重构了一种针对金黄色葡萄球菌（Staphylococcus aureus）感染的潜在疗法。该疗法在软组织感染的体外（in vitro）模型中，可稳定杀灭已形成的金黄色葡萄球菌生物被膜；在小鼠慢性伤口模型中，可杀灭耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（methicillin-resistant S. aureus，MRSA）。尽管该疗法所含的多种成分单独使用时，均被证实具备一定抗菌活性，但唯有多种成分协同作用方可实现完整疗效，这一发现既彰显了前现代医学从业者的学术造诣，也印证了古代典籍作为新型抗菌剂来源的巨大潜力。