Frontiers in Microbiology (May 2021)

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

  • Pengfei She,
  • Yangxia Wang,
  • Yingjia Li,
  • Linying Zhou,
  • Shijia Li,
  • Xianghai Zeng,
  • Yaqian Liu,
  • Lanlan Xu,
  • Yong Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.579806
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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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.

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