The Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Gatifloxacin and Its Metal Complexes

The present article reports the biological activity of gatifloxacin separately and simultaneously as a ligand and in form of the metal complex in vitro. Gatifloxacin is a member of the fluoroquinolone group and members of this group form metal complexes due to their high tendency to bind with metal ions. The metal complexes of the gatifloxacin synthesized with several metals like Mg(II), Al(III), Ca(II), Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) in a ratio of 1:2 molar ratios of metal and ligand (M: L). It was observed that the fluorine group at position 6 and the piperazine group at position 7 greatly enhanced the spectrum of activity. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of gatifloxacin and its metal complexes were determined by the agar diffusion method. The biological activity (antibacterial and antifungal) was tested against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Campylobacter jejuni, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Corynebacterium diphtherire, Clostridium perfringens, Pasteurella multocida, and fungus Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum. It was concluded that the as-prepared gatifloxacin metal complexes with divalent and trivalent metal ions showed enhanced antibacterial activities while no antifungal activities in comparison to gatifloxacin were observed.