Resensitization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by amoxapine, an FDA-approved antidepressant

• Main Authors: Tyler J. Wilson, Meghan S. Blackledge, Patrick A. Vigueira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-01-01
• Series: Heliyon
• Subjects: Microbiology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844017330049

The rapid increase in bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a global healthcare crisis. Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals that have attained approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration have the potential to be repurposed as bacterial resistance-modifying agents and therefore could become valuable resources in our battle against antibiotic-resistant microbes. Amoxapine is a tetracyclic antidepressant used in the treatment of major depressive disorder. Here we demonstrate the ability of amoxapine to resensitize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain ATCC 43300 to oxacillin in both agar diffusion and broth microdilution assays. Amoxapine also reduced the bacterial cleavage of nitrocefin in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that it may exert its adjuvant effects through reduction of beta-lactamase activity.