Use of Metabolic Inert Mycobacterium abscessus Cells to Study the Efficiency of Drugs

We investigated the effectiveness of antibiotics (amikacin, bedaquiline, linezolid, moxifloxacin, and rifampicin) on metabolically inert M. abscessus obtained under conditions of potassium deficiency in vitro . It was found that bedaquiline led to a significant decrease in the ability of bacteria to form colonies on dense media, but did not lead to their death, since it was shown that during cultivation in a liquid medium, they reverted to a state of active division and growth. Moxifloxacin had a bactericidal effect against metabolically inert bacteria, irreversibly and significantly reducing the number of viable cells in culture, which emphasizes the effectiveness of its use for the treatment of infections caused by M. abscessus.