Unveiling a potential link: Do non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs modulate resistance-associated microbial pathways?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a significant health concern worldwide, traditionally attributed to inappropriate antibiotic use. Emerging experimental and observational evidence suggests that non-antibiotic medications, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), may influence microbial behavior and adaptive responses associated with reduced antibiotic susceptibility. Beyond their analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, certain NSAIDs have been shown to modulate bacterial stress responses, efflux pump activity, biofilm dynamics and horizontal gene transfer under specific experimental conditions. This review examines the interplay between NSAIDs and the microbial ecosystem, focusing on resistance-associated mechanisms in antibiotic resistance and discusses implications for microbiome homeostasis and therapeutic outcomes. An extensive literature review was conducted using electronic databases “Google Scholar,” “PubMed,” and “Scopus” to identify relevant studies published between 1990 and 2025. The search strategy employed predefined keywords, including “non-antibiotic drug resistance,” “NSAIDs,” “microbial adaptation,” and “biofilm modulation.” Retrieved records were screened at the title and abstract level, followed by full-text evaluation of eligible studies. Experimental, clinical and mechanistic studies examining NSAID–microbe interactions in relation to antimicrobial resistance were included, while non-English articles and studies lacking microbiological relevance were excluded. The selected literature was qualitatively synthesized to inform the thematic analysis of the mechanisms, clinical consequences and research gaps highlighted in this paper. Preclinical research suggests that NSAIDs including ibuprofen, diclofenac and salicylic acid may modulate microbial survival strategies by reducing antibiotic susceptibility, enhancing biofilm-associated tolerance and altering pathogen behavior. These effects appear to assist adaptive responses associated with resistance-related phenotypes, rather than directly causing antimicrobial resistance. Given the predominantly experimental nature of current evidence, their inclusion in AMR surveillance and stewardship should be approached cautiously and supported by further research.
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15
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153
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55
- 10.1053/j.gastro.2008.02.007
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433
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6
- 10.1016/s2666-5247(22)00063-5
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99
- 10.1074/jbc.m200695200
- Jun 1, 2002
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COX2-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) cause selective apoptosis of renal medullary interstitial cells (RMIC) in vivo and reduce their ability to tolerate hypertonic stress in vitro. To determine the mechanism by which COX2 activity promotes RMIC viability, we examined the capacity of COX2-derived prostanoids to promote RMIC survival. Although RMICs synthesize prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) PGI2 > PGF2a > TxA2, only PGI2 enhanced RMIC viability following hypertonic stress. RMICs do not express the prostacyclin receptor, but they do express the prostacyclin responsive nuclear transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARdelta). Hypertonic stress increased PGI2 synthesis 330% above base line and also activated a PPARdelta specific reporter (delta response element (DRE)) by 90% above base line. Conversely DRE activity was only inhibited by the COX2-selective inhibitor SC236 but not by a COX1-selective NSAID (SC560). Overexpression of PPARdelta using an adenovirus not only drove DRE activity but also prevented RMIC death due to COX2 inhibition. These studies are consistent with a model whereby hypertonicity activates COX2-derived prostaglandin production, which promotes RMIC viability through PPARdelta. Inhibition of PPARdelta activity may contribute to the renal papillary necrosis associated with analgesic and/or NSAID use.
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519
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110
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165
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- Jan 1, 2008
- Journal of Biological Chemistry
Alzheimer disease amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) is generated via proteolytic processing of the beta-amyloid precursor protein by beta- and gamma-secretase. Gamma-secretase can be blocked by selective inhibitors but can also be modulated by a subset of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including sulindac sulfide. These drugs selectively reduce the generation of the aggregation-prone 42-amino acid Abeta(42) and concomitantly increase the levels of the rather benign Abeta(38). Here we show that Abeta(42) and Abeta(38) generation occur independently from each other. The amount of Abeta(42) produced by cells expressing 10 different familial Alzheimer disease (FAD)-associated mutations in presenilin (PS) 1, the catalytic subunit of gamma-secretase, appeared to correlate with the respective age of onset in patients. However, Abeta(38) levels did not show a negative correlation with the age of onset. Modulation of gamma-secretase activity by sulindac sulfide reduced Abeta(42) in the case of wild type PS1 and two FAD-associated PS1 mutations (M146L and A285V). The remaining eight PS1 FAD mutants showed either no reduction of Abeta(42) or only rather subtle effects. Strikingly, even the mutations that showed no effect on Abeta(42) levels allowed a robust increase of Abeta(38) upon treatment with sulindac sulfide. Similar observations were made for fenofibrate, a compound known to increase Abeta(42) and to decrease Abeta(38). For mutants that predominantly produce Abeta(42), the ability of fenofibrate to further increase Abeta(42) levels became diminished, whereas Abeta(38) levels were altered to varying extents for all mutants analyzed. Thus, we conclude that Abeta(38) and Abeta(42) production do not depend on each other. Using an independent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug derivative, we obtained similar results for PS1 as well as for PS2. These in vitro results were confirmed by in vivo experiments in transgenic mice expressing the PS2 N141I FAD mutant. Our findings therefore have strong implications on the selection of transgenic mouse models used for screening of the Abeta(42)-lowering capacity of gamma-secretase modulators. Furthermore, human patients with certain PS mutations may not respond to gamma-secretase modulators.
- Discussion
1
- 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.01.025
- May 1, 2006
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Reply
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4
- 10.1016/s1542-3565(05)00851-7
- Nov 1, 2005
- Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
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- Addendum
25
- 10.1074/jbc.m111.307199
- Jan 1, 2012
- Journal of Biological Chemistry
We have investigated the gastroprotective effect of SEGA (3a), a newly synthesized tryptamine-gallic acid hybrid molecule against non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced gastropathy with mechanistic details. SEGA (3a) prevents indomethacin (NSAID)-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress (MOS) and dysfunctions in gastric mucosal cells, which play a pathogenic role in inducing gastropathy. SEGA (3a) offers this mitoprotective effect by scavenging of mitochondrial superoxide anion (O(2)(·-)) and intramitochondrial free iron released as a result of MOS. SEGA (3a) in vivo blocks indomethacin-mediated MOS, as is evident from the inhibition of indomethacin-induced mitochondrial protein carbonyl formation, lipid peroxidation, and thiol depletion. SEGA (3a) corrects indomethacin-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo by restoring defective electron transport chain function, collapse of transmembrane potential, and loss of dehydrogenase activity. SEGA (3a) not only corrects mitochondrial dysfunction but also inhibits the activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis by indomethacin. SEGA (3a) inhibits indomethacin-induced down-regulation of bcl-2 and up-regulation of bax genes in gastric mucosa. SEGA (3a) also inhibits indometacin-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 in gastric mucosa. Besides the gastroprotective effect against NSAID, SEGA (3a) also expedites the healing of already damaged gastric mucosa. Radiolabeled ((99m)Tc-labeled SEGA (3a)) tracer studies confirm that SEGA (3a) enters into mitochondria of gastric mucosal cell in vivo, and it is quite stable in serum. Thus, SEGA (3a) bears an immense potential to be a novel gastroprotective agent against NSAID-induced gastropathy.
- Research Article
127
- 10.1016/j.ccr.2010.04.023
- Jun 1, 2010
- Cancer Cell
NSAID Sulindac and Its Analog Bind RXRα and Inhibit RXRα-Dependent AKT Signaling