Effectiveness of combined preparations of antimicrobial peptides against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides are considered as a promising strategy for the development of combination drugs effective against antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. AIM: study of the possibility of increasing the antibacterial activity of synthetic analogues of natural peptides and expanding its spectrum when used in combination with conventional antibiotics, antiseptics and silver nanoparticles. METHODS: To determine antimicrobial activity, serial dilutions in a liquid nutrient medium containing microorganisms were used, and to assess the nature of the combined effect, serial dilutions using the checkerboard method were used. A hemolysis assay was used to determine the toxicity of the test substances. RESULTS: The most frequent synergistic effects were identified for combinations of peptides PG-1, ChBac3.4 and PR-39 with NPs-A1, NPs-A2 and poviargol; RC, MC, RFRChBac3.4-1-NH2 with antibiotics amikacin, gentamicin and erythromycin; PG-1, ChBac3.4 and RFR ChBac3.4(1-14) with antiseptics amidopropyl betaine and chlorhexidine against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Using a hemolysis assay, the safety of the studied combinations was demonstrated at concentrations significantly exceeding the antimicrobial concentrations. CONCLUSION: The results confirm the high potential of the combined use of antimicrobial peptides, antibiotics, silver nanoparticles, and antiseptics to enhance antibacterial activity, justifying further development and clinical implementation of drugs based on PG-1 and PR-39, MC and PR-39, RFR Bac 3.4 (1-14) and Bac 5 (20-43) for the treatment of wound infections.