Description
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects 20–30% of women of childbearing age and has profound psychological and sexual impacts on patients, including, an increased risk of miscarriage and an elevated risk of STI’s. Bacterial vaginosis is a result of healthy vaginal microbiome dysbiosis (primarily Lactobacilli spp.), and an increase in vaginal pH. Gardnerella vaginalis is thought to act as the initial binding organism, and eventually, polymicrobial biofilms develop that can withstand host innate defences. Current BV treatment methods include metronidazole or clindamycin, but success rates are low (~60%) and ~40% of patients suffer from recurring infection following antibiotic therapy. Drug repurposing presents a promising avenue to explore in order to develop novel BV therapeutics. In response, we screened a commercially available drug repurposing library (1520 drugs) against both G. vaginalis and L. crispatus (at 5.5 x 107 CFU mL-1) under anaerobic conditions. Growth inhibition studies resulted in 52 drugs that met the selection criteria (>75% growth inhibition of G. vaginalis and <50% inhibition of L. crispatus) when screened at 10 µM. Nine of these drugs are repurposed candidates and were taken forward for further evaluation, including, anti-biofilm activity and growth inhibition screening against a metronidazole-resistant (MIC: > 128 µg mL-1) G. vaginalis isolate. All 9 repurposed candidates reduced G. vaginalis biofilm metabolic activity and biomass. Whilst only one of the repurposed drugs lost efficacy when evaluated against a G. vaginalis metronidazole-resistant isolate. This drug repurposing approach constitutes a promising strategy for the development of novel treatment regimens to combat BV.| Period | 1 Apr 2025 |
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| Event title | Microbiology Society Annual Conference 2025 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Liverpool, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |