Drug Repurposing: In vitro and in vivo Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Effects of Bithionol Against Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium

Frontiers in Microbiology

Yangxia Wang¹  Shijia Li²  Yingjia Li²  Linying Zhou²  Pengfei She²  Yaqian Liu²  Lanlan Xu²  Xianghai Zeng²  Yong Wu² 

[1] Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China;Department of Laboratory Medicine, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China;

关键词: drug repurposing;    bithionol;    antimicrobial;    Enterococci;    bacterial cell membrane;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2021.579806

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Widespread antibiotic resistance has been reported in enterococcal pathogens that cause life-threatening infections. Enterococci species rapidly acquire resistance and the pace of new antibiotic development is slow. Drug repurposing is a promising approach in solving this problem. Bithionol (BT) is a clinically approved anthelminthic drug. In this study, we found that BT showed significant antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects against Enterococcus faecalis and vancomycin-resistant Entercococcus faecium in vitro, in a dose-dependent manner, by disrupting the integrity of the bacterial cell membranes. Moreover, BT effectively reduced the bacterial load in mouse organs when combined with conventional antibiotics in a peritonitis infection model. Thus, BT has shown potential as a therapeutic agent against E. faecalis- and vancomycin-resistant E. faecium-related infections.

【 授权许可】

Unknown