Antibacterial Activity of Artificial Phenothiazines and Isoflavones from Plants

Abstract

A review. Significant antimicrobial action was detected in vitro and in vivo in phenothiazines that are applied to humans as neuroleptics or antihistamines. Both Gram-pos. and Gram-neg. bacteria were equally sensitive, with the MIC varying between 25 and 100 μg/mL with most agents. Some phenothiazines were bactericidal, while others were bacteriostatic in action. Similar activity could be obsd. in isoflavonones obtained from the plants Sophora spp. Trifluoperazine and methdilazine exhibited antimycobacterial properties as well, and in exptl. animals the latter showed definite healing properties. Chlorpromazine and thioridazine were able to eliminate R-plasmids in drug-resistant bacteria. Artificially synthesized Benzo[α]phenothiazines could effectively suppress adenovirus oncogene expression. Phenothiazines have now been shown to inhibit efflux pumps in multidrug-resistant bacteria. [on SciFinder(R)]