Infectious disease

In vitro, cell culture and rat studies identified a conjugate of the DNA gyrase inhibitor ciprofloxacin that could help treat the bone infection osteomyelitis. In vitro, ciprofloxacin conjugated to a bone-targeting bisphosphate group inhibited the growth of eight strains of Staphylococcus aureus with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 0.49-31.2 μg/mL. In S. aureus and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans biofilms, the conjugate decreased growth compared with vehicle. In a rat model of A. actinomycetemcomitans-induced osteomyelitis, the conjugate decreased bacterial load at the site of the infection compared with free ciprofloxacin. Next steps by BioVinc LLC could include testing the conjugate in additional models of osteomyelitis...