Summary: | Tuberculosis has been described as a global health crisis since the 1990s, with an estimated 1.4 million deaths in the last year. Herein, a series of 20 1<i>H</i>-indoles were synthesized and evaluated as in vitro inhibitors of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> (Mtb) growth. Furthermore, the top hit compounds were active against multidrug-resistant strains, without cross-resistance with first-line drugs. Exposing HepG2 and Vero cells to the molecules for 72 h showed that one of the evaluated structures was devoid of apparent toxicity. In addition, this 3-phenyl-1<i>H</i>-indole showed no genotoxicity signals. Finally, time-kill and pharmacodynamic model analyses demonstrated that this compound has bactericidal activity at concentrations close to the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, coupled with a strong time-dependent behavior. To the best of our knowledge, this study describes the activity of 3-phenyl-1<i>H</i>-indole against Mtb for the first time.
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