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Related Experiment Videos

Rifabutin Is Active against Mycobacterium abscessus Complex.

Dinah Binte Aziz1, Jian Liang Low1, Mu-Lu Wu1

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
|April 12, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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Rifabutin, a rifampin derivative, shows in vitro activity against Mycobacterium abscessus lung infections. This finding offers a potential new treatment for this multidrug-resistant pathogen, especially in cystic fibrosis patients.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Drug Discovery

Background:

  • Lung infections caused by Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) are a growing global health concern, particularly for individuals with cystic fibrosis.
  • M. abscessus is inherently resistant to many antibiotics, including standard antituberculosis drugs like rifampin.
  • Human-to-human transmission of M. abscessus is increasingly recognized, complicating treatment and control efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify existing, approved drugs that could be repurposed for treating M. abscessus lung disease.
  • To screen a large library of compounds for activity against M. abscessus.
  • To evaluate the efficacy of promising drug candidates against various M. abscessus strains.

Main Methods:

  • A library of over 2,700 approved drugs was screened against an M. abscessus clinical isolate at a single concentration.
Keywords:
Mycobacterium abscessusNTMrepurposingrifabutin

Related Experiment Videos

  • Hits were re-tested in dose-response experiments to confirm activity.
  • The most effective compound, rifabutin, was further tested for growth inhibition and bactericidal activity against reference strains of all three M. abscessus subspecies and clinical isolates.

    • Main Results:

    • The rifampin derivative rifabutin demonstrated significant in vitro activity against M. abscessus, with Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of 3 ± 2 μM.
    • Rifabutin was effective against reference strains of M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, M. abscessus subsp. bolletii, and M. abscessus subsp. massiliense.
    • Activity was observed against a panel of clinical isolates, including strains resistant to clarithromycin.

    Conclusions:

    • Rifabutin exhibits in vitro activity against the Mycobacterium abscessus complex, unlike rifampin.
    • Rifabutin represents a potential therapeutic option for treating M. abscessus lung infections.
    • Further investigation into rifabutin for M. abscessus treatment is warranted.