Epinecidin-1 might have therapeutic use in Pseudomonas aeruginos

Epinecidin-1 has immunomodulatory effects, facilitating its therapeutic use in a mouse model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis.

CY Pan, JC Chen, JF Sheen, TL Lin, JY Chen, Antimicrob Agents Chemother. , 2014 May 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are garnering attention as possible alternatives to antibiotics. Here, we describe the antimicrobial properties of epinecidin-1 against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa (R)) and P. aeruginosa from ATCC (P. aeruginosa (19660)) in vivo. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of epinecidin-1 against P. aeruginosa (R) and P. aeruginosa (19660) were determined, and compared with those of imipenem. Epinecidin-1 was found to be highly effective at combating peritonitis infection caused by P. aeruginosa (R) or P. aeruginosa (19660) in mouse models, without inducing adverse behavioral effects, or liver or kidney toxicity. Taken together, our results indicate that epinecidin-1 enhances the survival rate of mice infected with the bacterial pathogen P. aeruginosa through both antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects.