Abstract
Background: Frequent and unrestricted use of antibiotics has been associated with the development of antibiotic resistance by microorganisms. Thus, there is a need to find novel antibacterial agents or a combination of agents as the first line of treatment for various infections. This study aimed to investigate the synergy between antimicrobial peptide (AMP) combinations or between AMP‐antibiotics combinations using two common pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Methods: The AMPs melimine, Mel4 and protamine, and antibiotics cefepime and ciprofloxacin were used in this study. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each were evaluated against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains by a microtiter broth dilution. Based on the MIC of each antimicrobial agent, a checkerboard assay was performed to investigate the synergy between them, which was expressed as the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC). Results: The combination of melimine and ciprofloxacin showed synergistic activity against antibiotic sensitive or resistant strains of P. aeruginosa and with FIC values ≤0.5. Conclusion: Combinations of AMPs and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin is a promising method for reducing resistance to the fluoroquinolone of P. aeruginosa.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 60 |
| Pages (from-to) | 60 |
| Journal | Antibiotics |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 9 May 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 May 2019 |
Bibliographical note
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Keywords
- Antibiotics
- Antimicrobial peptides
- Pseudomonas
- Staphylococcus
- Synergy