Drug effects on intracellular mycobacteria determined by mass spectrometric analysis of the Na(+)-to-K+ ratios of individual bacterial organisms.

The successful establishment of a drug screening system for intracellular cultivable and noncultivable mycobacteria based on the mass spectrometric determination of bacterial viability is described. To compare drug efficacies on intra- and extracellular mycobacteria, the mycobacteria were subjected to drug treatment either after phagocytosis by the mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 or in cell-free medium. After reisolation, their viability was monitored by analyzing the intrabacterial sodium-to-potassium ratios for a limited number of individual organisms. This approach offers a reliable and quick tool for monitoring the influence of intracellular growth and of additional permeation barriers on intracellular drug efficacy and will thus provide useful information for the rational development and testing of optimized antimycobacterial drugs. In particular, the methodology is applicable to the noncultivable species Mycobacterium leprae, because the mass spectrometric analysis of the intrabacterial sodium-to-potassium ratio allows the determination of bacterial viability independent from their ability to multiply in vitro. Because of the improved metabolic activity of intracellularly growing M. leprae compared with that of extracellularly growing M. leprae, the spectrum of antileprosy drugs that can be tested in vitro could even be extended to those interfering with DNA replication and cell division.