Effect of alkaloid berberine on the susceptibility of nontuberculous mycobacteria to antibiotics

Abstract

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have recently emerged as important bacterial pathogens of both animals and humans. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of a combination of ten antibiotics with an inhibitor of efflux pumps (EPI), i.e. berberine (BER), against 6 strains of NTM. Our results showed that the BER potentiated the anti-mycobacterial activities of the antibiotics. Overall, our findings show the importance of BER in increasing the efficacy of antibiotics in NTM.