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Cited by 147Antimicrobial agents and applicationsAntibiotic Resistance in BacteriaMicrobial Natural Products and Biosynthesis

Sertraline enhances the activity of antimicrobial agents against pathogens of clinical relevance

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Ayaz, Muhammad, Subhan, Fazal, Ahmed, Jawad, Khan, Arif-ullah, Ullah, Farhat, Ullah, Ihsan, Ali, Gowhar, Syed, Nawazish-i-Husain +1 more·2015·Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki
DOI 10.1186/s40709-015-0028-1PMC PMC4449573
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Serotonin reuptake inhibitors were recently reported to possess antimicrobial potentials, potentiate activity of several antibiotics, reverse multidrug resistant phenotypes of bacteria and make them susceptible to previously resistant drugs. We investigated antimicrobial potentials of sertraline (SR) against ATCC strains, clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa alone and in-combination with seven antibiotics. Antifungal activity was investigated against four fungal strains including Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, and Fusarium solani. Intrinsic antibacterial action and Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) were determined using well assay, nutrient broth and agar dilution techniques. Disk diffusion and nutrient broth methods were used to study bacterial susceptibility to SR. Minimum Fungicidal Concentrations (MFCs) of SR were determined using Sabouraud dextrose Agar (SDA). RESULTS: Sertraline possesses strong intrinsic antibacterial, antifungal activities and has augmented the antibacterial activities of antibiotics. For S. aureus ATCC 6538, E. coli ATCC 8739 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027, the MICs of SR were 20, 40 and 60 μg ml(-1), respectively, whereas 55.5% clinical isolates of S. aureus and 50% of E. coli strains were inhibited at 20 and 60 μg ml(-1) of SR, respectively. Among the tested fungi, 60% of A. niger and A. fumigatus were inhibited at 40 and 80 μg ml(-1), respectively. MFCs were 60 and 80 μg ml(-1) for A. flavus and F. solani, respectively. Antibacterial activities of all antibiotics were significantly increased (p < 0.001) with the addition of SR 100 μg ml(-1) against all tested bacteria. CONCLUSION: Combination study revealed that SR had significantly increased the activity of antibiotics, and some previously resistant strains were made susceptible. Thus antidepressants are potential sources of resistance modifying agents when used in combination.

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  • SSRIs including sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine have antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus and Enterococcus.

    “The antidepressant SSRIs (selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors), including sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine (Jin et al., 2018), have antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus and Enterococcus (Ayaz et al., 2015;Coban et al., 2009).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Ayaz et al., 2015

    The Results report sertraline’s antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and the Background reports antibacterial activity of paroxetine against S. aureus. The Background mentions fluoxetine’s antifungal activity, not antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria; no passage establishes activity against Enterococcus (no page numbers are available in our copy). (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Ayaz, M., Subhan, F., Ahmed, J., Khan, A.-U., Ullah, F., Ullah, I., Ali, G., Syed, N.-I.-H., & Hussain, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Malakand (PK)
  • University of Peshawar (PK)
  • Khyber Medical University (PK)
  • Riphah International University (PK)
  • University of Swabi (PK)
  • University of the Punjab (PK)
  • Kohat University of Science and Technology (PK)
Corresponding author
Ayaz, Muhammad
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2015-04-16
Volume
22
Issue
1
Pages
4-4
ISSN
  • 1790-045X (ISSN-L)
  • 2241-5793
DOI
10.1186/s40709-015-0028-1
PMC
PMC4449573
OpenAlex
W2100275502
Cited by
147
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7
FWCI
3.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Biological Research - Thessaloniki (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Antimicrobial agents and applications
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
Keywords
sertraline, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antimicrobial activity, antibiotic potentiation, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, antifungal activity, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, clinical isolates, multidrug resistance, minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum fungicidal concentration

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