A common bacterium found in chronic wounds has been caught red-handed producing a toxic chemical weapon that paralyzes the body’s natural healing process, explaining why some diabetic ulcers never close despite aggressive antibiotic treatment.

Story Highlights

• Scientists identified Enterococcus faecalis bacteria as the culprit behind stubborn chronic wounds that refuse to heal
• The bacterium produces hydrogen peroxide that triggers cellular stress responses, freezing skin cell migration and repair
• Antioxidant enzymes like catalase can neutralize the bacterial toxin and restore normal wound healing
• This discovery offers a new treatment approach that sidesteps the growing antibiotic resistance crisis

The Hidden Chemical Warfare in Your Wounds

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have cracked a medical mystery that affects 18.6 million people worldwide annually. Their groundbreaking study, published in Science Advances, reveals that Enterococcus faecalis doesn’t just resist antibiotics—it actively sabotages the healing process by weaponizing its own metabolism. The bacterium generates hydrogen peroxide through a process called extracellular electron transport, flooding wound sites with reactive oxygen species that overwhelm cellular defenses.

This discovery fundamentally changes our understanding of chronic wound infections. While doctors have long focused on killing bacteria with increasingly powerful antibiotics, these microscopic invaders were simultaneously poisoning the healing environment. The hydrogen peroxide produced by E. faecalis creates oxidative stress that triggers what scientists call the unfolded protein response in keratinocytes—essentially causing skin cells to shut down their repair functions and stop migrating to close wounds.

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When Your Body’s Repair Shop Goes Dark

The unfolded protein response represents one of nature’s cruel ironies. Originally designed as a cellular survival mechanism, this stress response helps cells cope with toxic environments by temporarily halting normal functions. However, when E. faecalis continuously pumps out hydrogen peroxide, the temporary shutdown becomes permanent paralysis. Skin cells that should be actively dividing and migrating to seal wounds instead remain frozen in place, creating the perfect environment for chronic infections to flourish.

Associate Professor Guillaume Thibault, who co-led the research, expressed surprise at discovering this metabolic weapon. The team’s experiments using human skin cells revealed that even genetically modified E. faecalis strains unable to produce hydrogen peroxide could no longer prevent wound healing. This finding provides the first direct mechanistic link between bacterial metabolism and host cell dysfunction in chronic wounds.

Scientists discover why some wounds refuse to heal https://t.co/OyZtCQoZVJ

— Zicutake USA Comment (@Zicutake) January 20, 2026

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The Antioxidant Solution That Could Save Limbs

The research team’s most promising discovery involves a surprisingly simple solution: neutralizing the bacterial hydrogen peroxide with antioxidant enzymes. When researchers applied catalase—an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide—to infected wound models, they observed remarkable results. The antioxidant treatment restored normal keratinocyte function and allowed wounds to close properly, even in the presence of living bacteria.

Dr. Aaron Tan, a research fellow involved in the study, emphasized the clinical potential of this approach. Unlike developing new antibiotics, which takes years and faces inevitable resistance, antioxidant-based treatments could fast-track to clinical trials using established compounds. Catalase-infused wound dressings represent a ready-to-translate therapeutic strategy that could dramatically reduce amputation rates among diabetics and improve outcomes for millions suffering from chronic wounds.

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Sources:

Scientists discover why some wounds refuse to heal
Spore study finds new way to disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria, speed up healing of chronic wounds
New way to disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria and restore healing in chronic wounds
New way to disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria and restore healing in chronic wounds