An international study has found that the commonly used diabetes drug glibenclamide can help the body’s immune system deal with certain bacterial infections, such as in the treatment of melioidosis, reducing mortality by about half. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and their counterparts in Thailand, Singapore and other countries investigated 1,160 patients in northeastern Thailand with nosocomial infections, many of whom also had diabetes and took the diabetes drug glibenclamide, a Feb. 23 bulletin said. The researchers found that those patients who took glibenclamide, but not those who took glibenclamide, had a mortality rate of about 50 percent for patients with melioidosis. Nosocomial is a disease endemic in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia and northern Australia, caused by the bacterium Nosocomial, which has symptoms including sepsis and pneumonia, and has a high mortality rate. Diabetic patients tend to be more susceptible to nosocomial infection, but have a lower mortality rate compared to other patients. The current study reveals the reason behind this, namely the antibacterial properties of glibenclamide, a drug commonly taken by diabetic patients. The researchers believe that glibenclamide does not have a direct antibacterial effect, but rather exerts its antibacterial effect by modulating the body’s immune system, which means that it may have similar effects on some other bacteria. Professor Sharon Peacock of the University of Cambridge said that non-diabetic patients should not take glibenclamide, so researchers need to explore the mechanism behind this, and on the basis of which to develop antibacterial drugs safe for all.