Inhaled tigecycline is effective against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium abscessus causes chronic pulmonary infections. Owing to its resistance to most classes of antibiotics, treatment is complex and cure rates are only 45%. Tigecycline is active against M. abscessus, but severe toxicity and the need for IV administration limit its use. OBJECTIVES: To assess the potential of inhaled tigecycline as a treatment for M. abscessus pulmonary disease, by measuring its efficacy in a mouse model of chronic M. abscessus pulmonary disease, establishing the intracellular activity of tigecycline against M. abscessus in human macrophages and measuring the activity of tigecycline in the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients. METHODS: We infected GM-CSF knockout mice with M. abscessus by intrapulmonary aerosol. Infected mice were treated with tigecycline in 0.25, 1.25 and 2.5 mg doses, by inhalation, or untreated, for 28 days. Tigecycline was added to human peripheral blood-derived macrophages infected with M. abscessus to assess its intracellular activity. We performed a time-kill kinetics experiment of tigecycline against M. abscessus with and without sputum of cystic fibrosis patients. RESULTS: Inhaled tigecycline proved highly effective against M. abscessus in GM-CSF knockout mice. The effect was dose dependent. Tigecycline showed potent activity against M. abscessus in macrophages and retained most of its activity in the presence of sputum of cystic fibrosis patients. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled tigecycline may represent a viable treatment option for M. abscessus pulmonary disease, where treatment outcomes are currently very poor. A stable and safe formulation is required to proceed to further pharmacodynamic studies and ultimately clinical trials.

Auranofin Activity Exposes Thioredoxin Reductase as a Viable Drug Target in Mycobacterium abscessus.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are highly drug-resistant, opportunistic pathogens that can cause pulmonary disease. The outcomes of the currently recommended treatment regimens are poor, especially for Mycobacterium abscessus New or repurposed drugs are direly needed. Auranofin, a gold-based antirheumatic agent, was investigated for Mycobacterium tuberculosis Here, we test auranofin against NTM in vitro and ex vivo We tested the susceptibility of 63 NTM isolates to auranofin using broth microdilution. Next, we assessed synergy between auranofin and antimycobacterial drugs using the checkerboard method and calculated the fractional inhibition concentration index (FICI). Using time-kill kinetics assays (TK), we assessed pharmacodynamics of auranofin alone and in combination with drug combinations showing the lowest FICIs for M. abscessus CIP 104536. A response surface analysis was used to assess synergistic interactions over time in TKs. Primary isolated macrophages were infected with M. abscessus and treated with auranofin. Finally, using KEGG Orthology, we looked for orthologues to auranofins drug target in M. tuberculosisM. abscessus had the lowest auranofin MIC50 (2 µg/ml) among the tested NTM. The lowest average FICIs were observed between auranofin and amikacin (0.45) and linezolid (0.50). Auranofin exhibited concentration-dependent killing of M. abscessus, with >1-log killing at concentrations of >2× MIC. Only amikacin was synergistic with auranofin according to Bliss independence. Auranofin could not lower the intracellular bacterial load in macrophages. Auranofin itself may not be feasible for M. abscessus treatment, but these data point toward a promising, unutilized drug target.