PULLMAN, Wash.-New research suggests that deadly bacteria seek out and feed on human blood.
A team led by researches at Washington State University recently discovered the phenomenon known as “bacterial vampirism,” in which bacteria are attracted to the liquid part of blood, or serum, which contains nutrients the bacteria can use as food.
“We learned some of the bacteria that most commonly cause bloodstream infections actually sense a chemical in human blood and swim toward it,” said Arden Baylink, a professor at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and corresponding author for the research.
The research, published in the journal eLife, found that one of the chemicals the bacteria seemed particularly drawn to was serine, an amino acid found in human blood that is also a common ingredient in protein drinks.
According to a WSU press release, researchers found that at least three types of bacteria, Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter koseri, are attracted to human serum.
The research could potentially be used to discover how bloodstream infections happen and how they can be treated.
Researchers simulated intestinal bleeding by injecting microscopic amounts of human serum and watching as the bacteria navigated toward the source. According to WSU, the response was rapid, with the disease causing bacteria taking less than a minute to find the serum.
“By learning how these bacteria are able to detect sources of blood, in the future we could develop new drugs that block this ability,” said WSU PhD Student Siena Glenn, lead author of the study.
