This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a parasitic disease that causes the rapid deterioration of brain tissue, is one of the most lethal infections known, with a fatality rate exceeding 97%. Caused by the free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri), the disease progresses with devastating speed, often leaving patients with only a few days to respond to treatment.
Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego have isolated a marine-derived compound that may provide a faster, more effective way to stop the parasite. The study, published in Marine Drugs, was led by Debnath, Fenical and Hayley Fong, who completed this project as part of her doctoral research at UC San Diego. The researchers report that rutamycin B—a compound isolated from a marine bacterium—demonstrates significant potency at low concentrations against multiple clinical strains of N. fowleri.
The compound achieves full potency within four hours, significantly outpacing amphotericin B, the current gold-standard treatment. "Current treatments for PAM often act too slowly or carry heavy toxicity," said Anjan Debnath, associate professor at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and codirector of UC San Diego's Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases. "By identifying a compound that is both faster and more selective, we are moving closer to a treatment that can stop the infection before it causes irreversible damage, which could fundamentally change the prognosis for people who contract this parasite." The findings also speak to the therapeutic potential of compounds isolated from the ocean.
"The ocean contains a diverse library of chemicals, and we've only just scratched its surface," said William Fenical, distinguished professor emeritus at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "These results are a powerful reminder that the solutions to some of our most challenging medical problems may be hiding in unexpected places." Beyond its immediate potency, the team believes the structural properties of rutamycin B make it a promising candidate for further pharmacological optimization. Because the infection targets the central nervous system, the researchers are planning future studies to evaluate the compound's ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and its efficacy in live disease models.
While further research will be needed to bring this approach into the clinic, the study points toward a promising new therapeutic strategy for a disease that has historically left almost no survivors. Hayley Fong et al., Antiamoebic Activity of Rutamycin B and Inhibition of Naegleria fowleri F1FO ATP Synthase Activity, Marine Drugs (2026). DOI: 10.3390/md24110379 www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/24/11/379 Provided by University of California - San Diego BSc Life Sciences & Ecology.
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