Browsing by Author "Blessie, E.J.S."
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Item Characterization of Two New Multidrug-Resistant Strains of Mycobacterium smegmatis: Tools for Routine In Vitro Screening of Novel Anti-Mycobacterial Agents(Antibiotics, 2019-01) Arthur, P.K.; Amarh, V.; Cramer, P.; Arkaifie, G.B.; Blessie, E.J.S.; Fuseini, M.S.; Carilo, I.; Yeboah, R.; Asare, L.; Robertson, B.D.Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogen of global public health concern. This threat is exacerbated by the emergence of multidrug-resistant and extremely-drug-resistant strains of the pathogen. We have obtained two distinct clones of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium smegmatis after gradual exposure of Mycobacterium smegmatis mc² 155 to increasing concentrations of erythromycin. The resulting resistant strains of Mycobacterium smegmatis exhibited robust viability in the presence of high concentrations of erythromycin and were found to be resistant to a wide range of other antimicrobials. They also displayed a unique growth phenotype in comparison to the parental drug-susceptible Mycobacterium smegmatis mc² 155, and a distinct colony morphology in the presence of cholesterol. We propose that these two multidrug-resistant clones of Mycobacterium smegmatis could be used as model organisms at the inceptive phase of routine in vitro screening of novel antimicrobial agents targeted against multidrug-resistant Mycobacterial tuberculosis.Item In vitro antibacterial activities of selected TB drugs in the presence of clay minerals against multidrugresistant strain of Mycobacterium smegmatis(MATERIALS ENGINEERING | RESEARCH ARTICLE, 2020-01-16) Arthur, P.K.; Amarh, V.; Blessie, E.J.S.; Yeboah, R.; Kankpeyeng, B.W.; Nkumbaan, S.N.; Nkumbaan, E.K.Healing clay is a rich source of diverse minerals. The relevance of these indigenous minerals in the improvement of antibiotic chemotherapy against prevailing bacterial pathogens is yet to be thoroughly explored. In the present study, healing clay from archaeological context was characterized and used in combination with 19 different antibacterial drugs to test their combined in vitro activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 and a multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium smegmatis strain. Among the antibiotics tested, the anti-tuberculosis drug, pyrazinamide (Pzd), showed a drastic antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 in the presence of 5 µg/µL of the healing clay, whereas ribosome targeted inhibitors such as gentamicin showed significant reduction in activity in the presence of the healing clay. The resistance phenotype of the MDR Mycobacterium smegmatis strain to ampicillin and isoniazid was reversed in the presence of the healing clay. The activity of the other antibiotics was either unaffected, enhanced or reduced in the presence of the healing clay. The activity of ampicillin and isoniazid against the MDR strain in the presence of the healing clay suggest that healing clay might be a useful synergy for these antibiotics against MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis.