Effect of trifluoperazine on in vitro ATP synthesis by Mycobacterium leprae

The effect of trifluoperazine (TFP), a calmodulin antagonist, was investigated on in vitro ATP levels of human derived Mycobacterium leprae. M. leprae were obtained from biopsies from multi-bacillary forms of leprosy and were incubated in a modified Dubos medium system which supports limited in vitro synthesis of M. leprae. This incubation was carried out in the absence and presence of different concentrations of trifluoperazine. Samples for estimation of bacillary ATP levels were taken at day 0 and at 14 days of incubation. TFP inhibited ATP levels in M. leprae and this inhibitory effect was marginal at 2.5 microg ml(-1) (35% inhibition), highly significant at 5 microg ml(-1) (87% inhibition) and almost total at 10 microg ml(-1) (98.5% inhibition). This compound appears to have potential as an anti-leprotic drug and also as a broad spectrum anti-mycobacterial agent in view of its anti-tubercular activity reported earlier.