New prophylactic strategies against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms based on antimicrobial peptide synergies

[Excerpt] Introduction The solution to clinically relevant biofilms and antimicrobial resistance may lie in alternative products with new mechanisms of action. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may be good replacements for current antibiotics because their action is low in specificity, reducing the chance of acquiring resistance, and they have a broad spectrum of activity against Gram-negative and -positive bacteria, including drug-resistant strains. Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogen, are the second most common cause of nosocomial pneumonia and are also related to infections in medical devices. Synergic interrelationships between AMPs could be a promising perspective to treat these biofilm-associated infections.
The financial support from IBB-CEB, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, in the ambit of the FCT PTDC/SAU-SAP/113196/2009/FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-016012 are gratefully acknowledged
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion