Novel drug repurposing method reveals two drugs effective for bacterial, fungal infections

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-drug-repurposing-method-reveals-drugs.html[3/14/2016 8:15:58 AM]

Home Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

March 10, 2016

more »

Novel drug repurposing method reveals two drugs effective for bacterial, fungal infections March 10, 2016 by Mohamad Seleem

Featured Last comments Popular

Medical Xpress on facebook

A Purdue University researcher has developed a novel strategy on identifying antimicrobial drugs to better treat bacterial and fungal infections, which could produce significant impacts that leapfrog the drug development process and save years of expensive research.

Mohamed Seleem, an associate professor of microbiology in Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine, has used novel drug repurposing methods to discover two drugs that could have significant promise as a potent antimicrobial agent for treatment of both superficial and invasive infections.

Seleem said that bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics as well as invasive fungal infections, has become a burgeoning global health epidemic that necessitates urgent action.

"In the United States alone more than two million individuals are stricken each year with infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens," he said. "Invasive fungal infections afflict millions of patients annually, resulting in nearly one-and-a-half million deaths. The demand for antifungals is at an all-time high because current antifungal treatments aren't working very well and can't be administered very conveniently."

Seleem said that approximately 30 percent of newly approved FDA drugs and vaccines have been repurposed. However, not a single drug has been thoroughly investigated and repurposed for use as an antibacterial or antifungal.

Finding new ways to repurpose drugs for antimicrobials outside of their current scope could allow companies many benefits, he added.

"Repurposing existing approved drugs allows companies to bypass much of the preclinical work and early-stage clinical trials required for new compounds, thus cutting the cost associated with bringing a drug to the marketplace by as much as 40 percent," he said. "Given these drugs have already been tested in human patients, valuable information pertaining to their chemical parameters are known. This permits a better understanding of the overall pharmacology of the drug, potential routes of administration, and establishing an appropriate dosing regimen for patients."

Seleem and his team are currently screening 3,200 of the 4,000 available approved drugs to test, which involves identifying those that have shown activity against bacteria and fungi and determining which ones are most promising.

"We take a drug that is being used for, say, heart disease and we re-use it as something like a topical ointment over the skin. The drug hasn't changed, but

Blueberries, the well-known 'super fruit,' could help fight Alzheimer's 15 hours ago 4

Burning more calories linked with greater gray matter volume, reduced Alzheimer's risk Mar 11, 2016 0

Saturated fat 'short-circuits' immune cells to trigger inflammation Mar 11, 2016 2

Seismic for the spine: Vibration technology offers alternative to MRI Mar 11, 2016 0

Circuit for experience-informed decision-making ID'd in rats Mar 11, 2016 1

Latest news Week's top Unread news

Topics Conditions

Novel drug repurposing method reveals two drugs effective for bacterial, fungal infections

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-drug-repurposing-method-reveals-drugs.html[3/14/2016 8:15:58 AM]

Provided by: Purdue University

feedback to editors

the method of application and purpose has," Seleem said. "We have ready information about the drugs from previous research for its initial purpose, but we conduct tests in the new model since they have never been used as an antifungal or antimicrobial, to reveal any additional information we may need. We plan on buying the additional 800 drugs for testing."

Seleem said that through his research and studies he has identified two drugs, auranofin and ebselen, as a potent antimicrobial agent that is capable of killing intracellular Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. In addition, auranofin and ebselen also are exhibiting novel antifungal mechanisms.

"Through our trials we have found that these two drugs have the ability to disrupt adherent staphylococcal biofilms, the most frequent cause of infections originating in hospitals. We've found also that they suppress toxin production and key resentment factors and reduce excessive host-inflammatory responses associated with these toxins, significantly reducing bacterial load and enhancing wound healing," he said. "In addition, both drugs have many advantageous qualities including oral bioavailability, potent bactericidal activity in a clinically achievable range, very low frequency of resistance, and synergistic activity with conventional antibiotics."

Seleem said he plans to research two other drug repurposing applications that would be of interest to the market: acne and toenail fungus.

"Approximately 85 percent of people age 12-24 suffer from at least minor acne, and current treatments aren't always effective. Toenail fungus is prevalent in about 10 to 20 percent of the world population, and current treatment, which can take for up to three years, is only effective in about 10 percent of those people," he said. "So we want to start screening the causative agent of these conditions and hopefully find a treatment that is safe and effective that is already being used in other approved drugs to fast track its availability to the market."

Seleem initially received funding from startup and university incentive grants, which allowed him to purchase the library of drugs he has been testing. He also received a one-year, $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and is seeking additional funding to expand his research. He is also open to partnerships with companies that could use his research to move the drug into clinical trials for its new purpose.

Explore further: Antimicrobial use in hospitals appears to be common

Related Stories Recommended for you

Antimicrobial use in hospitals appears to be common October 7, 2014A one-day prevalence survey of 183 hospitals found that approximately 50 percent of hospitalized patients included in the survey were receiving antimicrobial drugs, and that about half of these patients were receiving 2 or ...

New treatment regimen cuts severity of drug-resistant malaria in pregnancy March 9, 2016A two-drug preventive treatment greatly reduces the severity of malaria during pregnancy, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The treatment provides an alternative for many parts of Africa where ...

Novel drug repurposing method reveals two drugs effective for bacterial, fungal infections

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-drug-repurposing-method-reveals-drugs.html[3/14/2016 8:15:58 AM]

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Click here to reset your password. Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.

FDA approves cresemba for serious fungal infections March 9, 2015(HealthDay)—Cresemba (isavuconazonium sulfate) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis, the agency said Friday in a news release.

Biologists develop method for antibiotic susceptibility testing January 22, 2016A team of biologists and biomedical researchers at UC San Diego has developed a new method to determine if bacteria are susceptible to antibiotics within a few hours, an advance that could slow the appearance of drug resistance ...

Zika virus infects human neural stem cells March 4, 2016The Zika virus infects a type of neural stem cell that gives rise to the brain's cerebral cortex, Johns Hopkins and Florida State researchers report March 4 in Cell Stem Cell. On laboratory dishes, these stem cells were found ...

Study shows broccoli may offer protection against liver cancer March 3, 2016Consumption of broccoli has increased in the United States over the last few decades as scientists have reported that eating the vegetable three to five times per week can lower the risk of many types of cancer including ...

Novel small-molecule antiviral compound protects monkeys from deadly Ebola virus March 3, 2016Rhesus monkeys were completely protected from Ebola virus when treated three days after infection with a compound that blocks the virus's ability to replicate. These encouraging preclinical results suggest the compound, known ...

Experimental Ebola antibody protects monkeys February 25, 2016Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues have discovered that a single monoclonal antibody—a protein that attacks viruses—isolated ...

Genomic sequencing reveals link between STIs and leading cause of infectious blindness February 25, 2016For the first time, genome sequencing has been carried out on Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), a bacteria responsible for the disease Trachoma - the world's leading infectious cause of blindness, according to a study ...

0 comments

top

Home

Search

Mobile version

Help

About us

FAQ

Сontact

Science X Account

Sponsored Account

Newsletter

RSS feeds

Cancer / Oncology

HIV & AIDS news

Immunology news

Genetics news

Connect

Novel drug repurposing method reveals two drugs effective for bacterial, fungal infections

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-drug-repurposing-method-reveals-drugs.html[3/14/2016 8:15:58 AM]

Privacy Policy Terms of Use Medical Disclaimer© Medical Xpress 2011 - 2016, Science X network