title: Activity of subinhibitory concentrations of dapsone alone and in combination with cell-wall inhibitors against Mycobacterium avium complex organisms.
abstract: MICs of dapsone (p-p'-diaminodiphenylsulfone) were determined radiometrically for ten strains each of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. MICs ranged from 50 to 250 micrograms/ml for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and from 2 to 100 micrograms/ml for MAC. However, at a concentration as low as 1.5 micrograms/ml dapsone significantly inhibited growth of MAC bacteria when used in combination with other drugs specifically acting at the mycobacterial cell-wall level. The latter drugs were used in subinhibitory concentrations, and included m-fluorophenylalanine (an inhibitor of mycoside-C biosynthesis), ethambutol (an inhibitor of arabinogalactan biosynthesis), and ethionamide (an inhibitor of mycolic acid biosynthesis). Using a radiometric method (Bactec 460-TB), the activity of dapsone was found to be enhanced for 2/10 strains in the presence of m-fluorophenylalanine, for 3/10 strains in the presence of ethambutol and for 5/10 strains in the presence of ethionamide. A satisfactory correlation between the radiometric data and bacterial viable counts was established.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de la Tuberculose et des Mycobactéries, Institut Pasteur, Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Labrousse
mesh_terms: D002473:Cell Wall / Q000187:drug effects; D003622:Dapsone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004977:Ethambutol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005000:Ethionamide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000187:drug effects*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; C027218:3-fluorophenylalanine; D010649:Phenylalanine; D004977:Ethambutol; D003622:Dapsone; D005000:Ethionamide