Common medications like statins and antidepressants can accidentally shield 'superbugs' from antibiotics.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Commonly prescribed medicines antagonise anti-MRSA antibiotics and select for resistance
bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.03.31.715408
The Takeaway
Several of the world's most prescribed non-antibiotic drugs, including blood pressure medications and Prozac, were found to interfere with how antibiotics work. These everyday pills can inadvertently protect bacteria like MRSA from treatment, making them harder to kill and accelerating the development of dangerous drug resistance.
From the abstract
Many commonly prescribed non-antibiotic medicines have off-target antimicrobial activity, yet their impact on antibiotic efficacy remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated eight widely used UK prescription medicines and identified simvastatin, amlodipine, and fluoxetine as growth inhibitory towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These drugs disrupt bacterial membranes, with amlodipine and fluoxetine also triggering stress responses linked to cell wall and mem