Amber antibiotics

Scientists believe that paleopharmaceuticals based on Baltic amber are quite effective for drug-resistant infections. Previous studies have found that Baltic amber contains substances that can lead to the creation of new antibiotics, but they have not been systematically studied. For today scientists have managed to identify several organic compounds in amber powder extracts that are capable of being active against antibiotic-resistant gram-positive bacteria.

Among all the antimicrobial compounds that have been discovered, abietic acid has been identified as the most promising option for a new antibiotic. In addition, palustric and dehydroabietic acids, similar to abietic acid, had a special antimicrobial activity.  The substances that were identified were found to be active in the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, but without affecting the gram-negative bacteria, which are distinguished by a more complex structure.

Source: PHYS.ORG