In the past few years the increasing incidence of hospital infections with Acinetobacter baumannii, especially in immunocompromised patients, and its proneness to develop multidrug resistance have been raising considerable concern. This study examines the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of protegrin 1 (PG-1), an antimicrobial peptide from porcine leukocytes, against A. baumannii strains isolated from surgical wounds. PG-1 was tested both alone and combined with the antibiotics commonly used in clinical settings. Its antimicrobial activity was evaluated by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), checkerboard assays, and time-kill experiments. Its effects on biofilm inhibition/eradication were tested with crystal violet staining. The strains were grown in subinhibitory or increasing PG-1 concentrations to test the development of resistance. Mammalian cell toxicity was tested by XTT assays. PG-1 MICs and MBCs ranged from 2 to 8 µg/ml. PG-1 was most active and demonstrated a synergistic interaction with colistin, a last resort antibiotic. Interestingly, antagonism was never observed. In time-kill experiments, incubation with 2 × MIC for 30 min suppressed all viable cells. PG-1 did not select resistant strains and showed a limited effect on cell viability, but it did exert a strong activity against multidrug-resistant A. baumannii. In contrast, in our experimental conditions it had no effect on biofilm inhibition/eradication. PG-1 thus seems to be a promising antimicrobial agent against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections.
Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Antimicrobial peptides; Checkerboard assay; Protegrin-1; Synergy.