Minocycline forms complexes with manganese in vitro: Explaining reported beneficial effects in manganese treated Drosophila melanogaster

摘要

Minocycline (MC) is a semisynthetic tetracycline antibiotic that is able to pass the blood-brain barrier and is safe for clinical use. In addition to its antibacterial activity, MC also has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic, and neuroprotective properties (for review see Blum et al., 2004; Jordan et al., 2007). Recently, Bonilla et al. (2012) reported that MC has beneficial effects on the life span of Drosophila melanogaster treated with manganese (Mn).The authors first showed that feeding flies with Mn-enriched food resulted in a dramatic shortening of their life span, from about 68 to 23 days. Cationic Mn is an essential constituent of various met-alloenzymes, however, free Mn cations can be severely cytotoxic, particularly in neural cells where it leads to Parkinson-like symptoms (for review see Dobson et al., 2004).