Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Psychotropic Drugs Against Yeast Species
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54987/jemat.v13i2.1177Keywords:
Psychotropic drug, Pathogenic yeast, Antiyeast activity, Antibiofilm activity, Antimicrobial resistanceAbstract
The antimicrobial activity of psychotropic drugs forms the basis for their repurposing for antibiotic applications and concurrently requires care in their disposal due to their potential role in the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Four psychotropic drugs of the sedative class, namely barbiturate, benzodiazepine, non-benzodiazepine, and chloral hydrate, were tested for their antimicrobial activity against three different types of yeasts, viz, an ascomycetous non-pathogenic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an ascomycetous pathogenic yeast Candida tropicalis, and a basidiomycetous emerging pathogenic yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa; biofilm-forming ability was used as the parameter of pathogenicity. All drugs showed antibiofilm activity; chloral hydrate was more effective (causing 66.3%, 42.355 and 25.44% in S. cerevisiae, R.mucilaginosa and C. tropicalis respectively) at lower concentrations (MIC50), S. cerevisiae was the most resistant yeast except in the case of chloral hydrate, while R. mucilaginosa was the most sensitive yeast (up to 76.85% and 74.67% inhibition by benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine respectively) towards the selected sedative drugs. Some of these drugs may be repurposed for use as antibiotics, while care must be taken in their disposal, as they may contribute to the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
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