Seyedeh Asal Ghavami

Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran (SBU), Iran

The antibiotic effects of Fluoxetine with and without nanotubes on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Efflux pumps and their expression systems

Biography

Asal Ghavami is the top student in the final year of the master's degree in the field of industrial microbiology at Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran. Currently, in addition to studying the subject of her thesis, which is carried out in the Tuberculosis and Pulmonary Research Department of the Pasteur Institute of Iran, she is also investigating the effects of connecting nanotubes on the connection and drug delivery of common drugs in the treatment of tuberculosis. So far, these studies have been carried out on the drugs rifampin and isoniazid, and the positive effects of nanotube attachment on drug transfer and its binding to target cells on the bacterial cell surface have been proven.

Abstract

In this study, which is conducted between Pasteur Institute of Iran and Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, the antibiotic effects of fluoxetine on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis, are examined. Previously, this property was investigated and proven on Staphylococcus bacteria. However, due to the significant increase in the multidrug resistance of tuberculosis bacteria to the common drugs for its treatment, the need to provide new solutions for its treatment that have few side effects is needed. In this regard, in the initial phase of the study, the bioinformatics studies of this drug and the relevant receptors, which are called efflux pumps, will be done. In this phase, finding the best receptor for the binding of drug molecules is discussed. Next, by determining the best binding angle, the drug is applied to the bacteria in a laboratory environment at the Pasteur Institute of Iran, its binding to the receptor is checked, and the behavior of the bacteria is checked after that. Next, by connecting the nanotubes to fluoxetine drug, the rate of its drug transfer to bacteria is checked. It is predicted that the binding of fluoxetine to the efflux pumps in the bacterial wall will lead to the change of their gene expression and finally the dysfunction of the bacteria and its death.