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

2021; Frontiers Media; Volume: 12; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3389/fmicb.2021.579806

1664-302X

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

Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus

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.