Repurposing of antidepression drug sertraline for antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus: a potential approach for the treatment of osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis treatment is one of the most challenging issues in orthopedics, which is developed primarily by antibiotic resistant micro organisms. An efficient approach to overcome this issue is repurposing existing drug molecules to combine with the bioactive materials for making local drug delivery carriers. In the present study, we synthesized the repurposed sertraline drug loaded hydroxyapatite (HA) using eggshell biowaste as the calcium source via the in situ precipitation method. The physico-chemical analysis, antibacterial activity, biofilm formation, and bioactivity of the as prepared sample were studied. In situ sertraline loaded HA exhibited a controlled and prolonged release of sertraline that could efficiently prevent and inhibit the S. aureus biofilm formation, which was confirmed by CLSM and CFU. Moreover, it exhibited an excellent bioactivity; thus, it has great potential for the treatment of osteomyelitis infection.