Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen known to be resistant to antibiotics since the mid-20th century and is constantly associated with hospital-acquired infections. S. aureus forms biofilms, which are complex surface-attached communities of bacteria held together by a self-produced polymer matrix consisting of proteins, extracellular DNA, and polysaccharides. Biofilms are resistance structures responsible for increasing bacterial resistance to drugs by 1000 times more than the planktonic lifestyle. Therefore, studies have been conducted to discover novel antibacterial molecules to prevent biofilm formation and/or degrade preformed biofilms. Synthetic antimicrobial peptides (SAMPs) have appeared as promising alternative agents to overcome increasing antibiotic resistance. Here, the antibiofilm activity of eight SAMPs, in combination with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, was investigated in vitro. Biofilm formation by S. aureus was best inhibited (76%) by the combination of Mo-CBP3-PepIII (6.2 µg mL-1) and ciprofloxacin (0.39 µg mL-1). In contrast, the highest reduction (60%) of the preformed biofilm mass was achieved with RcAlb-PepII (1.56 µg mL-1) and ciprofloxacin (0.78 µg mL-1). Fluorescence microscopy analysis reinforced these results. These active peptides formed pores in the cellular membrane of S. aureus, which may be related to the enhanced ciprofloxacin's antibacterial activity. Our findings indicated that these peptides may act with ciprofloxacin and are powerful co-adjuvant agents for the treatment of S. aureus infections.
Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus; biofilm; synergism; synthetic peptides.