In vitro and in vivo Evaluation of in silico Predicted Pneumococcal UDPG:PP Inhibitors.

Pneumonia, of which Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common causative agent, is considered one of the three top leading causes of death worldwide. As seen in other bacterial species, antimicrobial resistance is on the rise for this pathogen. Therefore, there is a pressing need for novel antimicrobial strategies to combat these infections. Recently, uridine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase (UDPG:PP) has been put forward as a potential drug target worth investigating. Moreover, earlier research demonstrated that streptococci lacking a functional galU gene (encoding for UDPG:PP) were characterized by significantly reduced in vitro and in vivo virulence. Therefore, in this study we evaluated the anti-virulence activity of potential UDPG:PP inhibitors. They were selected in silico using a tailor-made streptococcal homology model, based on earlier listerial research. While the compounds didn't affect bacterial growth, nor affected in vitro adhesion to and phagocytosis in macrophages, the amount of polysaccharide capsule was significantly reduced after co-incubation with these inhibitors. Moreover, co-incubation proved to have a positive effect on survival in an in vivo Galleria mellonella larval infection model. Therefore, rather than targeting bacterial survival directly, these compounds proved to have an effect on streptococcal virulence by lowering the amount of polysaccharide and thereby probably boosting recognition of this pathogen by the innate immune system. While the compounds need adaptation to broaden their activity to more streptococcal strains rather than being strain-specific, this study consolidates UDPG:PP as a potential novel drug target.

Combination of Miconazole and Domiphen Bromide Is Fungicidal against Biofilms of Resistant Candida spp.

The occurrence and recurrence of mucosal biofilm-related Candida infections, such as oral and vulvovaginal candidiasis, are serious clinical issues. Vaginal infections caused by Candida spp., for example, affect 70 to 75% of women at least once during their lives. Miconazole (MCZ) is the preferred topical treatment against these fungal infections, yet it has only moderate antibiofilm activity. Through screening of a drug-repurposing library, we identified the quaternary ammonium compound domiphen bromide (DB) as an MCZ potentiator against Candida biofilms. DB displayed synergistic anti-Candida albicans biofilm activity with MCZ, reducing the number of viable biofilm cells 1,000-fold. In addition, the MCZ-DB combination also resulted in significant killing of biofilm cells of azole-resistant C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. auris isolates. In vivo, the MCZ-DB combination had significantly improved activity in a vulvovaginal candidiasis rat model compared to that of single-compound treatments. Data from an artificial evolution experiment indicated that the development of resistance against the combination did not occur, highlighting the potential of MCZ-DB combination therapy to treat Candida biofilm-related infections.

The synthesis and in vitro biological evaluation of novel fluorinated tetrahydrobenzo[j]phenanthridine-7,12-diones against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) still has a major impact on public health. In order to efficiently eradicate this life-threatening disease, the exploration of novel anti-TB drugs is of paramount importance. As part of our program to design new 2-azaanthraquinones with anti-mycobacterial activity, various "out-of-plane" tetrahydro- and octahydrobenzo[j]phenanthridinediones were synthesized. In this study, the scaffold of the most promising hits was further optimized in an attempt to improve the bioactivity and to decrease enzymatic degradation. The rudiment bio-evaluation of a small library of fluorinated tetrahydrobenzo[j]phenanthridine-7,12-dione derivatives indicated no significant improvement of the bio-activity against intracellular and extracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Though, the derivatives showed an acceptable toxicity against J774A.1 macrophages and early signs of genotoxicity were absent. All derivatives showed to be metabolic stabile in the presence of both phase I and phase II murine or human microsomes. Finally, the onset of reactive oxygen species within Mtb after exposure to the derivatives was measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Results showed that the most promising fluorinated derivative is still a possible candidate for the subversive inhibition of mycothione reductase.

Optimization and Characterization of a Galleria mellonella Larval Infection Model for Virulence Studies and the Evaluation of Therapeutics Against Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of bacterial pneumonia. Infection is linked to high morbidity and mortality rates and antibiotic resistance within this pathogen is on the rise. Therefore, there is a need for novel antimicrobial therapies. To lower the time and costs of the drug discovery process, alternative in vivo models should be considered. As such, Galleria mellonella larvae can be of great value. The larval immunity consisting of several types of haemocytes is remarkably similar to the human innate immune system. Furthermore, these larvae don't require specific housing, are cheap and are easy to handle. In this study, the use of a G. mellonella infection model to study early pneumococcal infections and treatment is proposed. Firstly, the fitness of this model to study pneumococcal virulence factors is confirmed using streptococcal strains TIGR4, ATCC®49619, D39 and its capsule-deficient counterpart R6 at different inoculum sizes. The streptococcal polysaccharide capsule is considered the most important virulence factor without which streptococci are unable to sustain an in vivo infection. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed indeed a higher larval survival after infection with streptococcal strain R6 compared to strain D39. Then, the infection was characterized by determining the number of haemocytes, production of oxygen free radicals and bacterial burden at several time points during the course of infection. Lastly, treatment of infected larvae with the standard antibiotics amoxicillin and moxifloxacin was evaluated. Treatment has proven to have a positive outcome on the course of infection, depending on the administered dosage. These data imply that G. mellonella larvae can be used to evaluate antimicrobial therapies against S. pneumoniae, apart from using the larval model to study streptococcal properties. The in-depth knowledge acquired regarding this model, makes it more suitable for use in future research.

Synthesis and in vitro investigation of halogenated 1,3-bis(4-nitrophenyl)triazenide salts as antitubercular compounds.

The diverse pharmacological properties of the diaryltriazenes have sparked the interest to investigate their potential to be repurposed as antitubercular drug candidates. In an attempt to improve the antitubercular activity of a previously constructed diaryltriazene library, eight new halogenated nitroaromatic triazenides were synthesized and underwent biological evaluation. The potency of the series was confirmed against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis lab strain H37Ra, and for the most potent derivative, we observed a minimal inhibitory concentration of 0.85 µm. The potency of the triazenide derivatives against M. tuberculosis H37Ra was found to be highly dependent on the nature of the halogenated phenyl substituent and less dependent on cationic species used for the preparation of the salts. Although the inhibitory concentration against J774A.1 macrophages was observed at 3.08 µm, the cellular toxicity was not mediated by the generation of nitroxide intermediate as confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, whereas no in vitro mutagenicity could be observed for the new halogenated nitroaromatic triazenides when a trifluoromethyl substituent was present on both the aryl moieties.

Design, synthesis and antitubercular potency of 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-ones.

In this study, a 50-membered library of substituted 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-ones and two closely related analogues was designed, scored in-silico for drug likeness and subsequently synthesized. Thirteen derivatives, all sharing a common 3-phenyl substituent showed minimal inhibitory concentrations against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra below 10 µM and against Mycobacterium bovis AN5A below 15 µM but were inactive against faster growing mycobacterial species. None of these selected derivatives showed significant acute toxicity against MRC-5 cells or early signs of genotoxicity in the Vitotox™ assay at the active concentration range. The structure activity study relation provided some insight in the further favourable substitution pattern at the 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one scaffold and finally 6-fluoro-4-hydroxy-3-phenylquinolin-2(1H)-one (38) was selected as the most promising member of the library with a MIC of 3.2 µM and a CC50 against MRC-5 of 67.4 µM.

Optimization and characterization of a murine lung infection model for the evaluation of novel therapeutics against Burkholderia cenocepacia.

Several B. cenocepacia mouse models are available to study the pulmonary infection by this Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) species. However, a characterized B. cenocepacia mouse model to evaluate the efficacy of potential new antibacterial therapies is not yet described. Therefore, we optimized and validated the course of infection (i.e. bacterial proliferation in lung, liver and spleen) and the efficacy of a reference antibiotic, tobramycin (TOB), in a mouse lung infection model. Furthermore, the local immune response and histological changes in lung tissue were studied during infection and treatment. A reproducible lung infection was observed when immunosuppressed BALB/c mice were infected with B. cenocepacia LMG 16656. Approximately 50 to 60% of mice infected with this BCC species demonstrated a dissemination to liver and spleen. TOB treatment resulted in a two log reduction in lung burden, prevented dissemination of B. cenocepacia to liver and spleen and significantly reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines. As this mouse model is characterized by a reproducible course of infection and efficacy of TOB, it can be used as a tool for the in vivo evaluation of new antibacterial therapies.

The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Antibiotic-Induced Cell Death in Burkholderia cepacia Complex Bacteria.

It was recently proposed that bactericidal antibiotics, besides through specific drug-target interactions, kill bacteria by a common mechanism involving the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, this mechanism involving the production of hydroxyl radicals has become the subject of a lot of debate. Since the contribution of ROS to antibiotic mediated killing most likely depends on the conditions, differences in experimental procedures are expected to be at the basis of the conflicting results. In the present study different methods (ROS specific stainings, gene-expression analyses, electron paramagnetic resonance, genetic and phenotypic experiments, detection of protein carbonylation and DNA oxidation) to measure the production of ROS upon antibiotic treatment in Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria were compared. Different classes of antibiotics (tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, meropenem) were included, and both planktonic and biofilm cultures were studied. Our results indicate that some of the methods investigated were not sensitive enough to measure antibiotic induced production of ROS, including the spectrophotometric detection of protein carbonylation. Secondly, other methods were found to be useful only in specific conditions. For example, an increase in the expression of OxyR was measured in Burkholderia cenocepacia K56-2 after treatment with ciprofloxacin or meropenem (both in biofilms and planktonic cultures) but not after treatment with tobramycin. In addition results vary with the experimental conditions and the species tested. Nevertheless our data strongly suggest that ROS contribute to antibiotic mediated killing in Bcc species and that enhancing ROS production or interfering with the protection against ROS may form a novel strategy to improve antibiotic treatment.

Five Species of Coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), Including Four New Species, Identified in the Feces of Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.

During October 2013, 112 fecal samples were collected from wild blue wildebeest ( Connochaetes taurinus ) in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, and examined for coccidians. Coccidia were present in 46% of samples, with wildebeest shedding 60 to 18,000 oocysts per gram feces (median, 300; mean, 1,236). Five species, including 4 new species, were identified. Oocysts of Eimeria gorgonis from 18% of samples were ellipsoidal, 23 × 18.4 µm, with a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.3, oocyst wall 1-1.5 µm thick. Micropyle, oocyst residuum, and polar granule absent. Oocysts of Eimeria donaldi n. sp. from 34% of samples were spherical to oblong, 13.4 × 12.3 µm, L/W ratio 1.1, oocyst wall 1 µm thick. Micropyle, oocyst residuum, and polar granule absent. Oocysts of Eimeria nyumbu n. sp. were ellipsoidal, 30.8 × 22.1 µm, L/W 1.4, oocyst wall 2 µm thick. Large micropyle present, oocyst residuum and polar granule absent. Oocysts of Eimeria burchelli n. sp. in 16% of samples were 34.8 × 24.4 µm, L/W 1.4, oocyst wall 2-2.5 µm thick, with a brown, lightly stippled outer layer. Micropyle present, oocyst residuum and polar granule absent. Oocysts of Eimeria sokoine n. sp. in 5% of samples were 45.8 × 29 µm, L/W 1.6, oocyst wall 3-4 µm thick with a dark brown, very rough, stippled outer layer. Micropyle present, oocyst residuum and polar granule absent. There was no apparent cross transmission of coccidia found in blue wildebeest with those generally reported to infect domestic cattle.