Development of novel derivatives to rein in and fight bacteria have never been more demanding, as microbial resistance strains are alarmingly increasing. A multitude of new fluoroquinolones derivatives with an improved spectrum of activity and/or enhanced pharmacokinetics parameters have been widely explored. Reporting novel antimicrobial agents entails comparing their potential activity to their parent drugs; hence, parent fluoroquinolones have been used in research as positive controls. Given that these fluoroquinolones possess variable activities according to their generation, it is necessary to include parent compounds and market available antibiotics of the same class when investigating antimicrobial activity. Herein, we provide a detailed guide on the in vitro biological activity of fluoroquinolones based on experimental results published in the last years. This work permits researchers to compare and analyze potential fluoroquinolones as positive control agents and to evaluate changes occurring in their activities. More importantly, the selection of fluoroquinolones as positive controls by medicinal chemists when investigating novel FQs analogs must be correlated to the laboratory pathogen inquest for reliable results.
Keywords: anticancer; ciprofloxacin; fluoroquinolones; minimum inhibitory concentration; moxifloxacin; norfloxacin; resistant bacteria.