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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, February 2007, p. 468-474, Vol. 51, No. 2
0066-4804/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01030-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Activities of Antimicrobial Peptides and Synergy with Enrofloxacin against Mycoplasma pulmonis{triangledown}

Lina Fassi Fehri,1 Henri Wróblewski,2 and Alain Blanchard1*

INRA Université de Bordeaux 2, UMR Génomique Développement Pouvoir Pathogène, 71 avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33883 Villenave D'Ornon, France,1 Université de Rennes I, UMR CNRS 6026 Interactions Cellulaires et Moléculaires, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes, France2

Received 17 August 2006/ Returned for modification 4 October 2006/ Accepted 3 November 2006

We showed in a previous study that associations of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are key components of the innate immune systems of all living species, with the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin can successfully cure HeLa cell cultures of Mycoplasma fermentans and M. hyorhinis contamination. In the present work, the in vitro susceptibility of M. pulmonis, a murine pathogen, to enrofloxacin and four AMPs (alamethicin, globomycin, gramicidin S, and surfactin) was investigated, with special reference to synergistic associations and the effect of the mycoplasma cell concentration. Enrofloxacin and globomycin displayed the lowest MICs (0.4 µM), followed by gramicidin S (3.12 µM), alamethicin (6.25 µM), and surfactin (25 µM). When the mycoplasma cell concentration was varied from 104 to 108 CFU/ml, the MICs of enrofloxacin and globomycin increased while those of the three other molecules remained essentially constant. The minimal bactericidal concentration of enrofloxacin (0.8 µM) was also lower than those of the peptides (6.25 to 100 µM), but the latter killed the mycoplasma cells much faster than enrofloxacin (2 h versus 1 day). The use of the AMPs in association with enrofloxacin revealed synergistic effects with alamethicin and surfactin. Interestingly, the mycoplasma-killing activities of the two combinations enrofloxacin (MIC/2) plus alamethicin (MIC/4) and enrofloxacin (MIC/2) plus surfactin (MIC/16) were about 2 orders of magnitude higher than those of the three molecules used separately. These results support the interest devoted to AMPs as a novel class of antimicrobial agents and pinpoint their ability to potentiate the activities of conventional antibiotics, such as fluoroquinolones.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: INRA Université de Bordeaux 2, UMR Génomique Développement Pouvoir Pathogène, 71 avenue Edouard Bourlaux, BP 81, 33883 Villenave D'Ornon, France. Phone: (33) 5 57 12 23 93. Fax: (33) 5 57 12 23 69. E-mail: ablancha{at}bordeaux.inra.fr.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 November 2006.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, February 2007, p. 468-474, Vol. 51, No. 2
0066-4804/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01030-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Simmons, W. L., Dybvig, K. (2007). Biofilms Protect Mycoplasma pulmonis Cells from Lytic Effects of Complement and Gramicidin. Infect. Immun. 75: 3696-3699 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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