TY - JOUR A2 - Ottenhoff, T. AU - Bermudez, Luiz E. AU - Meek, Laura PY - 2014 DA - 2014/12/11 TI - Mefloquine and Its Enantiomers Are Active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis In Vitro and in Macrophages SP - 530815 VL - 2014 AB - Objective. Tuberculosis is a serious problem of public health. The increase on the number of clinical cases of tuberculosis infected with multidrug resistant (MDR) M. tuberculosis calls for the development of novel therapy. Design. We investigated the effect of mefloquine and two enantiomers, (+)erythro-mefloquine and (+)threo-mefloquine against M. tuberculosis strains in the environment resembling the aspects of the granuloma environment and in macrophages. Results. The results suggest that mefloquine (racemic mixture) and (+)erythro-mefloquine have bactericidal activity against M. tuberculosis strains both in acidic, low oxygen tension and in macrophages. The activity, however, was impaired under increased osmolarity. Conclusion. Identification of the target for mefloquine in the pathogen will allow for the development of novel drugs with antituberculosis activity. SN - 2090-150X UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/530815 DO - 10.1155/2014/530815 JF - Tuberculosis Research and Treatment PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -