Evaluación del efecto de un péptido antimicrobiano en bacterias multirresistentes que circulan en el municipio de Cali, años 2017 y 2018

Abstract

Bacterial resistance (RB) is one of the major public health problems worldwide. In particular, infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae clinical isolates are serious global health concerns because of the ineffectiveness of empirical antibiotic therapy. Therefore, research and development of new antibiotic alternatives to control these bacteria is urgently needed, and cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMP) have emerged as a promising alternative because they are highly effective against MDR bacteria. In this study, we aimed to investigate the in vitro antibacterial effect of a short synthetic CAMP derived from the ΔM2 analog of cecropin D-like (CAMP-CecD) against clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae (n = 30) and P. aeruginosa (n = 30), as well as its hemolytic activity. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of CAMP-CecD against wild-type and MDR strains were determined. The results revealed a bactericidal effect of PAMC-CecD against both wild-type and resistant strains, but P. aeruginosa MDR strains showed higher susceptibility to this peptide with MIC values between 32 and 512 µg/ml. In addition, the peptide did not show hemolytic activity. Given the antibacterial activity of PAMC-CecD against wild-type and MDR clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae and its non-hemolytic effects on human erythrocytes, PAMC-CecD may be a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics.