Repositioning calcium channel antagonists as antimicrobials: In vitro study exploring clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is both a commensal and pathogenic bacterial species. Diseases caused by S. aureus represent a significant burden on healthcare systems, and over time, the species has developed complex and sophisticated mechanisms of resistance to most of the clinically used antimicrobials, making pharmacological treatments technically difficult. A strategy that has been increasingly explored for this context is drug repositioning, which takes advantage of the established approval of the drug for using it in a new purpose. Here we investigated the antibacterial activity of amlodipine and nifedipine on clinical isolates of S. aureus. We performed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests using broth micro dilution. Our findings provide evidence of their antibacterial potential against S. aureus strains. Given the scarcity of data in this context, our data becomes even more relevant. Further studies are being conducted to develop pharmaceutical formulations to treat skin infections with these drugs.