BackgroundMost patients with bacterial infections suffer from fever and various pains that require complex treatments with antibiotics, antipyretics, and analgaesics. The most common drugs used to relieve these symptoms are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are not typically considered antibiotics. Here, we investigate the effects of NSAIDs on bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and the modulation of bacterial efflux pumps.MethodologyThe activity of 12 NSAID active substances, paracetamol (acetaminophen), and eight relevant medicinal products was analyzed with or without pump inhibitors against 89 strains of Gram-negative rods by determining the MICs. Furthermore, the effects of NSAIDs on the susceptibility of clinical strains to antimicrobial agents with or without PAβN (Phe-Arg-β-naphtylamide) were measured.ResultsThe MICs of diclofenac, mefenamic acid, ibuprofen, and naproxen, in the presence of PAβN, were significantly (≥4-fold) reduced, decreasing to 25–1600 mg/L, against the majority of the studied strains. In the case of acetylsalicylic acid only for 5 and 7 out of 12 strains of P. mirabilis and E. coli, respectively, a 4-fold increase in susceptibility in the presence of PAβN was observed. The presence of Aspirin resulted in a 4-fold increase in the MIC of ofloxacin against only two strains of E. coli among 48 tested clinical strains, which included species such as E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, and S. maltophilia. Besides, the medicinal products containing the following NSAIDs, diclofenac, mefenamic acid, ibuprofen, and naproxen, did not cause the decrease of clinical strains’ susceptibility to antibiotics.ConclusionsThe effects of PAβN on the susceptibility of bacteria to NSAIDs indicate that some NSAIDs are substrates for efflux pumps in Gram-negative rods. Morever, Aspirin probably induced efflux-mediated resistance to fluoroquinolones in a few E. coli strains.

The synthesis of potassium 6-hydroxy-7-chloro-1,1-dimethyl-3,3-difluorobenzo-1,2,3-siloxaborolate 5b from readily available 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol was developed.

Transformations of oxazoline–benzosiloxaborole conjugates gave rise to novel boracyclic systems as well as functionalized derivatives featuring antibacterial activity.

The growing problem of antimicrobial resistance has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top ten threats to mankind. In a special report published in 2017, the WHO presented a list of microorganisms for which the search for new therapeutic options is a priority. The highest (critical) priority was given to the search for new antibiotics active against carbapenemresistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as against carbapenem-and third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales strains (so-called critical priority pathogens). Whereas the second (high) priority was given among others to the search for new antibiotics active against methicillin-and vancomycin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and VRSA) and vancomycin-resistant strains of Enterococcus faecium (VRE). Since the publication of the WHO report the European Medicines Agency has approved 6 novel, broad-spectrum antibiotics, from 6 different groups, addressing the priority pathogens to a different extent. Two of them are new combinations of carbapenems with non-β-lactam inhibitors of β-lactamases (active also against carbapenemases), belonging to two novel groups of inhibitors: diazabicyclooctanes (relebactam, combined with imipenem) and boronates (vaborbactam, combined with meropenem). The third new drug is a siderophore cephalosporin (cefiderocol) with an innovative mechanism of penetration into the bacterial cell. The next two antibiotics are the new fluoroquinolone (delafloxacin) and the new tetracycline (eravacycline), designed and synthesized to be more active than older members of these groups. The last innovative antibiotic is lefamulin -the first pleuromutilin approved for systemic use in humans. New approvals have expanded the number of available therapeutic options in the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (meropenem/vaborbactam, cefiderocol), complicated intra-abdominal infections (meropenem/vaborbactam, eravacycline), nosocomial pneumonia (meropenem/vaborbactam, imipenem/relebactam), acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (delafloxacin) and community-acquired pneumonia (lefamulin).

The analysis of antimicrobial activity is usually MIC- and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC)-focused, though also crucial are resistance-related parameters, e.g., the frequency of spontaneous mutant selection (FSMS), the mutant prevention concentration (MPC), and the mutant selection window (MSW). In vitro -determined MPCs, however, are sometimes variable, poorly repeatable, and not always reproducible in vivo . We propose a new approach to the in vitro determination of MSWs, along with novel parameters: MPC-D, MSW-D (for dominant mutants, i.e., selected with a high frequency, without a fitness loss), and MPC-F, MSW-F (for inferior mutants, i.e., with an impaired fitness).