Microbial transformation of albendazole

Screening scale studies were performed to biotransform anthelmintic drug albendazole by using twelve bacterial strains representing six genera and five actinomycetes cultures. Among the cultures studied, Bacillus subtilis MTCC 619, Escherichia coli MTCC 118 and Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC 109 could transform albendazole to one metabolite whereas, Enterobacter aerogenes NCIM 2695, Klebsiella aerogenes NCIM 2258, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 2074 and Streptomyces griseus NCIM 2622 could transform albendazole into two metabolites in significant quantities. The transformation of albendazole was identified by HPLC. Based on LC-MS-MS data, the two metabolites were predicted to be albendazole sulfoxide (M1) and albendazole sulfone (M2), the major mammalian metabolites reported previously. Since M1 is active metabolite, the results prove the versatility of microorganisms to perform industrially attractive chemical reactions.