AUTHOR=She Pengfei , Wang Yangxia , Li Yingjia , Zhou Linying , Li Shijia , Zeng Xianghai , Liu Yaqian , Xu Lanlan , Wu Yong 

TITLE=Drug Repurposing: In vitro and in vivo Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Effects of Bithionol Against Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.579806

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.579806

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Widespread antibiotic resistance has been reported in Enterococci-pathogens that cause life-threatening infections. Antibiotic development has not kept pace with the rapid increase in resistance in Enterococci. Drug repurposing is a promising approach to solve this problem. Bithionol (BT) is a clinically approved anthelminthic drug. In this study, we found that BT showed significant antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects against Enterococcus faecalis and vancomycin-resistant E. faecium in vitro in a dose-dependent manner by disrupting the integrity of bacterial cell membranes. Moreover, BT effectively reduced the bacterial load of mouse organs when combined with conventional antibiotics in a peritonitis infection model. Thus, BT has shown potential as a therapeutic agent for E. faecalis- and vancomycin-resistant E. faecium-related infections.