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Published on: December 27, 2016

Repurposing Non-Infectious Therapeutic Agents to Aid in the Treatment of Chronic Biofilm Infections

Lila Berle1,2, Yash Sodhi3, Poonam Mathur4

  • 1University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

Medical Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|May 27, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Novel therapeutics are needed to combat biofilms in chronic infections, as antibiotics are less effective. Repurposing existing safe drugs offers a promising strategy to develop new adjuvant biofilm treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Antibiotics are less effective against microbial biofilms, which are implicated in up to 70% of chronic infections.
  • Biofilm-dwelling microbes require significantly higher antibiotic concentrations (up to 1000x) compared to planktonic forms.
  • There is a critical need for novel therapeutic strategies to effectively treat chronic biofilm infections.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the potential of repurposing existing drugs as adjuvant therapies for chronic biofilm infections.
  • To identify and discuss four drugs with theoretical promise for treating biofilm infections.
  • To highlight the advantages of using already-approved drugs for expedited clinical development.

Main Methods:

  • Reviewing current clinical applications of selected drugs.
  • Investigating potential antimicrobial mechanisms of action for each drug.
  • Compiling existing data supporting their use as adjuvant biofilm agents.

Main Results:

  • Four drugs were identified with theoretical promise as adjuvant biofilm agents.
  • Detailed discussions included current clinical use and proposed antimicrobial activities.
  • Evidence was presented to support their potential role in combating biofilms.

Conclusions:

  • Repurposing safe, non-antimicrobial drugs is a viable strategy for developing new biofilm infection treatments.
  • Clinicians need greater awareness of the antimicrobial potential of commonly used medications.
  • Further research and clinical trials are warranted to validate these repurposed drugs as adjuvant biofilm therapies.
Keywords:
EDTAN-acetylcysteinebiofilmchronic infectionsethyl pyruvatemethylene blue

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