Development of a novel human oral tissue model of gonorrhoea infection to screen for new treatments for oral gonorrhoea

• A/Prof Fabian Kong

  Associate Professor / Deputy Head - Sexual Health Unit

  kongf@unimelb.edu.au
  

Project Details

Oral Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG)  infections are common, affecting 2 to 10% of the population. Oropharyngeal infections are important because (1) cure rates at the oral site are up to 20% lower than at the genital site; (2) play a major role in transmission in the population through oral sex and use of saliva and (3) they are more likely to facilitate the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). NG has now developed resistance to all classes of antibiotics recommended for gonorrhoea treatment and in 2017, the WHO declared AMR NG as an urgent global threat.

New treatments for NG are scarce and among emerging treatments, all currently have efficacies below the USA CDC efficacy criteria of 95% for treating infections in the oropharynx. Therefore there is an urgent need to find new treatments for oral NG.

We have developed the world's first in-vitro model of NG infection/colonization in the human oropharynx. Through this model, we will screen for new treatments for oral gonorrhoea that can be incorporated into a oral topical product (e.g. gum) to prevent infections. Please see the 3 min YouTube video for more information.

This is a collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Melbourne Dental School and Melbourne School of Population and Global Health) and the World Health Organisation.

RELATED WORK: Pharmacokinetic  study of oral gonorrhoea treatments to optimise cure - the STI-PK Project

Researchers

Project Lead:

• A/Prof Fabian Kong

Current investigators:

• A/Prof Antonio Celentano
• Rita Paolini
• Syed Ameer Hamza
• Caroline Moore
• Prof Magnus Unemo, World Health Organisation
• Prof Jane Hocking

Current collaborators:

• Wintermute Biomedical Pty Ltd
• University of QLD - Institute for Molecular Biosciences

Funding

ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub to combat Antimicrobial Resistance  (AMR Hub) (Project ID IH190100021; 2022-2206)

NHMRC Investigator Grant (APP2033078; 2025-2029)

Research Opportunities

This research project is available to Masters by Research, Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.

Research Outcomes

Chow EPF, Fairley CK, Kong FYS. STI pathogens in the oropharynx: update on screening and treatment. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 2024, doi:10.1097/QCO.0000000000000997

Unemo M, Kong FYS. Doxycycline-PEP - novel and promising but needs monitoring. Nat Rev Urol 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41585-023-00788-1.

Kong FYS, Kenyon C, Unemo M. Important considerations regarding the widespread use of doxycycline chemoprophylaxis against sexually transmitted infections. J Antimicrob Chemother 2023. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkad129.

Kong FYS, Unemo M, Lim SH et al. Optimisation of treatments for oral Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection: Pharmacokinetics Study (STI-PK project) – study protocol for non-randomised clinical trial, BMJ Open 2022, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064782

Kong FYS, Hocking JS. Treating pharyngeal gonorrhoea continues to remain a challenge. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2022, doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00649-6

Kong FYS, Hatzis CL, Lau et al. Treatment efficacy for pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2020. doi:10.1093/jac/dkaa300

Kong FYS, Hocking JS, Fairley CF et al. Is there a future for the ongoing use of azithromycin for the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae? Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2020. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2019.10.015

Kong FYS, Horner P, Unemo M et al. Pharmacokinetic considerations regarding the treatment of bacterial sexually transmitted infections with azithromycin: a review. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2019. doi: 10.1093/jac/dky548