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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1475124
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring Novel Targets and Therapies to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance View all articles

Rifabutin: A Repurposed Antibiotic With High Potential Against Planktonic and Biofilm Staphylococcal Clinical Isolates

Provisionally accepted
Magda Ferreira Magda Ferreira 1,2,3Margarida Pinto Margarida Pinto 4Frederico N. Silva Frederico N. Silva 1,2Ana Bettencourt Ana Bettencourt 3Maria Manuela Gaspar Maria Manuela Gaspar 3,5Sandra I. Aguiar Sandra I. Aguiar 1*
  • 1 Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal
  • 2 Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisboa, Portugal
  • 3 Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
  • 4 Laboratório de Microbiologia do Serviço de Patologia Clínica do Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisboa, Portugal
  • 5 Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Staphylococcus aureus poses a significant threat as an opportunistic pathogen in humans, and animal medicine, particularly in the context of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Effective treatment is a significant challenge, contributing substantially to the global health burden. While antibiotic therapy remains the primary approach for staphylococcal infections, its efficacy is often compromised by the emergence of resistant strains and biofilm formation. The anticipated solution is the discovery and development of new antibacterial agents. However, this is a time consuming and expensive process with limited success rates. One potential alternative for addressing this challenge is the repurposing of existing antibiotics. This study investigated the potential of rifabutin (RFB) as a repurposed antibiotic for treating S. aureus infections. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of rifabutin was determined, in parallel to vancomycin, in 114 clinical isolates recovered from invasive staphylococcal disease. The study demonstrated that RFB MIC ranged from 0.002 to 6.250 µg/mL with a MIC50 of 0.013 µg/mL. RFB also demonstrated high anti-biofilm activity in a subset of 40 clinical isolates, with confirmed biofilm formation, with no significant MBIC50 differences observed between the MSSA and MRSA strains, in contrast to that observed for the VAN. These results highlight the promising efficacy of RFB against staphylococcal clinical isolates with different resistance patterns, whether in planktonic and biofilm forms.

    Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic repurposing, Rifabutin, Clinical Isolates, Biofilms

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ferreira, Pinto, Silva, Bettencourt, Gaspar and Aguiar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sandra I. Aguiar, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.