Antimicrobial and efflux inhibitor activity of usnic acid against Mycobacterium abscessus

Ivy B. Ramis, Júlia S. Vianna, Ana Júlia Reis, Andrea von Groll, Daniela F. Ramos, Miguel Viveiros, Pedro E.Almeida da Silva

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

New drugs are needed to treat infections with antimicrobial-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus ; therefore, we evaluated usnic acid as an antimicrobial agent and efflux inhibitor (EI) against M. abscessus . Usnic acid showed antimicrobial activity, and synergistically, the EI verapamil increased this activity. In addition, when we evaluated the interaction of antimicrobials with usnic acid, the increase of their activity was observed. Finally, usnic acid showed an efflux inhibitory effect between the classical EIs verapamil and carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazine. In conclusion, usnic acid showed both antimicrobial and EI activity, indicating that this natural compound may be a promising scaffold for new drugs against this difficult-to-treat microorganism.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1265-1270
Number of pages5
JournalPlanta Medica
Volume84
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2018

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial
  • Efflux inhibitor
  • Mycobacterium abscessus
  • Usnic acid
  • Verapamil

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