Repurposing conventional antimycobacterial drugs using ionic liquids

• Autor(a) principal: Bento, Clara M.
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Silva, Tânia, Aguiar, Luísa, Teixeira, Cátia, Gomes, Paula, Ferraz, Ricardo, Gomes, Maria Salomé
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/25596
• topic: Repurposing old drugs; Ionic liquids; In vitro infection; Mycobacterium avium

Nontuberculous mycobacteria, namely the species belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex, are highly infectious opportunistic pathogens, which incidence is increasing worldwide. Treating these infections is challenging, due to long duration, high toxicity, and low effectiveness of available drugs. It is therefore urgent to find new therapeutic strategies, including the repurposing of old drugs. Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts made by the combination of two molecules with opposite polarities, which are gaining attention in drug development. Combining the right ions, it is possible to create ILs that could avoid polymorphism and solubility issues presented by solid conventional drugs, improving their absorption and desired dissolution rate. Besides increasing the bioavailability, the main goals when formulating a new IL is keeping or improving the bioactivity and cytotoxicity properties of the parental drug(s). The aim of our work is to evaluate the ability of ILs based on conventional antimycobacterial drugs, like clofazimine, aminosalicylic acid, and fluoroquinolones, to inhibit the viability and growth of M. avium in axenic culture and inside macrophages.