Carbonyl Cyanide 3-Chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) Exhibits Direct Antibacterial Activity Against .

OBJECTIVE

Treatment choices for () infections are very limited, and the prognosis is generally poor. Effective new antibiotics or repurposing existing antibiotics against infection are urgently needed. Carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), a member of the lipophilic weak acid class, is known as an efflux pump inhibitor for . The aim of this study was to determine the inhibitory activity of CCCP as a potential novel antibiotic against .

METHODS

A total of 47 reference strains of different mycobacterial species and 60 clinical isolates of were enrolled. In vitro inhibitory activity of CCCP was accessed using microplates alamar blue method with the reference and clinical isolates. The activity of CCCP against intracellular residing within macrophage was also evaluated by intracellular colony numerating assay.

RESULTS

CCCP exhibited good activity against clinical isolates in vitro, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 0.47 μg/mL to 3.75 μg/mL, with a MIC of 1.875 μg/mL and MIC of 3.75 μg/mL. At concentrations safe for the cells, CCCP exhibited highly intracellular bactericidal activities against and reference strains, with inhibitory rates of 84.8%±8.8% and 72.5%±13.7%, respectively. CCCP demonstrated bactericidal activity against intracellular that was comparable to clarithromycin, and concentration-dependent antimicrobial activity against in macrophages was observed. In addition, CCCP also exhibited good activities against most reference strains of rapidly growing mycobacterial species.

CONCLUSION

CCCP could be a potential candidate of novel antimicrobiological agent to treat infection.