IN VITRO ACTIVITY OF BEDAQUILINE AGAINST MYCOBACTERIUM FORTUITUM COMPLEX

Abstract

The activity of bedaquiline (Bdq), a drug that is effectively used for the treatment of tuberculosis, including those with multiple (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) pathogen, was studied against rapidly growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) belonging to Mycobacterium fortuitum complex (MFC). Methods. А total 154 strains of MFC (78 of M. fortuitum and 76 of M. peregrinum) were examined. In addition, the drug susceptibility (DS) of these strains to 15 antibacterial drugs (ABD) was studied using the Sensitititre RapMyco test system. Results. Тhe Bdq MIC range for M. fortuitum was found to be 0.0015–1.0 μg/mL, M. peregrinum – 0.0015–2.0 μg/mL. The MIC50 for M. fortuitum was 0.015 µg/mL, MIC90 was 0.25 µg/mL, and ECOFF was 0.5 µg/mL. For M. peregrinum, the corresponding values were 0.007, 0.06 and 2.0 µg/mL. As a result, only 1 (1.3%) resistant strain of M. fortuitum was detected, no resistant strains of M. peregrinum were found. When the DS of these NTM species to other ABDs were studied, it was found that M. fortuitum and M. peregrinum were highly resistant to most of them. Conclusion. Bdq was found to be active against MFC in vitro and is likely to be effective in the chemotherapy of mycobacteriosis caused by these NTM species