In Vitro Activities of Novel Antimicrobial Combinations against Extensively Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Resveratrol Increases Sensitivity of Clinical Colistin-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Colistin In Vitro and In Vivo

Infections caused by colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa strains pose a serious threat to public health. It is therefore urgent to find new strategies to deal with these bacterial infections. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of the colistin/resveratrol combination in eradicating colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates and their biofilms both in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that six clinically isolated colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa strains were multidrug resistant (MDR) strains, and resveratrol showed no antimicrobial activity against eight P. aeruginosa strains. Checkerboard assay and time-kill assays indicated that the combination therapy of resveratrol and colistin indicated a remarkable synergistic effect in vitro, and biofilm assays and SEM indicated synergistic antibiofilm activity. Furthermore, this combination could efficiently eliminate MDR bacteria in a murine infection model and improve the survival rate of Galleria mellonella. Fluorescence analysis, ALP, and β-galactosidase activity test results indicated that the colistin/resveratrol combination increased the membrane permeability of bacteria. In conclusion, our results may provide an efficient alternative pathway against colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa infections. IMPORTANCE P. aeruginosa is a ubiquitous Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen associated with a wide array of life-threatening acute and chronic infections. However, the improper and excessive use of antibiotics has contributed to the increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa, even colistin-resistant strains, which presents a major challenge to clinical anti-infection treatment. Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenolic antioxidant, can effectively slow down or avoid the occurrence and development of bacterial resistance and is expected to offer a promising strategy to overcome bacterial infections. In this study, colistin/resveratrol combination could synergistically damage the bacterial cell membrane, thereby inducing cell lysis while addressing the emergence of drug resistance. Moreover, this combination therapy may provide an efficient alternative pathway to combat the colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa in clinical practice.

In Vitro Synergistic Activity of Antimicrobial Combinations against Carbapenem- and Colistin-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae

Polymyxins are commonly used as the last resort for the treatment of MDR Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae nosocomial infections; however, apart from the already known toxicity issues, resistance to these agents is emerging. In the present study, we assessed the in vitro synergistic activity of antimicrobial combinations against carbapenem-resistant and colistin-resistant A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae in an effort to provide more options for their treatment. Two hundred A. baumannii and one hundred and six K. pneumoniae single clinical isolates with resistance to carbapenems and colistin, recovered between 1 January 2021 and 31 July 2022,were included. A. baumannii were tested by the MIC test strip fixed-ratio method for combinations of colistin with either meropenem or rifampicin or daptomycin. K. pneumoniae were tested for the combinations of colistin with meropenem and ceftazidime/avibactam with aztreonam. Synergy was observed at: 98.99% for colistin and meropenem against A. baumannii; 91.52% for colistin and rifampicin; and 100% for colistin and daptomycin. Synergy was also observed at: 73.56% for colistin and meropenem against K. pneumoniae and; and 93% for ceftazidime/avibactam with aztreonam. The tested antimicrobial combinations presented high synergy rates, rendering them valuable options against A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae infections.

Thymol Increases Sensitivity of Clinical Col-R Gram-Negative Bacteria to Colistin

Colistin-resistant (Col-R) bacteria are increasing sharply, which poses a serious threat to public health. Thymol is a phenolic compound used for its wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity, while the combination of nontraditional drugs to restore colistin activity is an attractive strategy to treat infections caused by these pathogens. This study showed that thymol could play a synergistic role with colistin against Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), including nonfermenting bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae. According to antimicrobial resistance profiles, most of the colistin-resistant strains we collected showed multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotypes. The checkerboard method and time-kill curve confirmed the synergistic effect of thymol combined with colistin against Col-R GNB. The synergistic antibiofilm activity of thymol combined with colistin was assessed via crystal violet staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) assays. Results showed that compared with a single drug, the combination partially destroyed bacterial cells and inhibit the formation of bacterial biofilms. Mechanismly, the thymol/colistin combination synergistically potentiated the antibacterial activity by accelerating the damage and permeability of the bacterial outer membrane. Preliminary data indicated that the thymol/colistin combination could decrease the number of bacteria ≥2 log10 CFU/mL after 24 h of therapy in a mouse thigh infection model. Our results fully prove that thymol and colistin combination possesses a promising treatment option against colistin-resistant GNB infections. IMPORTANCE Colistin is being considered "the last ditch" treatment in many infections caused by multidrug-resistant GNB clinical isolates, but colistin-resistant (Col-R) strains with different drug resistance mechanisms have appeared worldwide. Hence, it is of great significance to rejuvenate sensitization of clinical Col-R Gram-negative bacteria to colistin. In this study, the thymol/colistin combination showed notable antibacterial activity in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that the thymol/colistin combination may have promise as a treatment approach for treating the infections caused by Col-R pathogens.

In search for a synergistic combination against pandrug-resistant A. baumannii; methodological considerations

PURPOSE

Pending approval of new antimicrobials, synergistic combinations are the only treatment option against pandrug-resistant A. baumannii (PDRAB). Considering the lack of a standardized methodology, the aim of this manuscript is to systematically review the methodology and discuss unique considerations for assessing antimicrobial combinations against PDRAB.

METHODS

Post-hoc analysis of a systematic review (conducted in PubMed and Scopus from inception to April 2021) of studies evaluating antimicrobial combination against A. baumannii, based on antimicrobials that are inactive in vitro alone.

RESULTS

Eighty-four publications were reviewed, using a variety of synergy testing methods, including; gradient-based methods (n = 11), disk-based methods (n = 6), agar dilution (n = 2), checkerboard assay (n = 44), time-kill assay (n = 50), dynamic in vitro PK/PD models (n = 6), semi-mechanistic PK/PD models (n = 5), and in vivo animal models (n = 11). Several variations in definitions of synergy and interpretation of each method were observed and are discussed. Challenges related to testing combinations of antimicrobials that are inactive alone (with regards to concentrations at which the combinations are assessed), as well as other considerations (assessment of stasis vs killing, clinical relevance of re-growth in vitro after initial killing, role of in vitro vs in vivo conditions, challenges of clinical testing of antimicrobial combinations against PDRAB infections) are discussed.

CONCLUSION

This review demonstrates the need for consensus on a standardized methodology and clinically relevant definitions for synergy. Modifications in the methodology and definitions of synergy as well as a roadmap for further development of antimicrobial combinations against PDRAB are proposed.

Quercetin Rejuvenates Sensitization of Colistin-Resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates to Colistin

Colistin is being considered as "the last ditch" treatment in many infections caused by Gram-negative stains. However, colistin is becoming increasingly invalid in treating patients who are infected with colistin-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella Pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae). To cope with the continuous emergence of colistin resistance, the development of new drugs and therapies is highly imminent. Herein, in this work, we surprisingly found that the combination of quercetin with colistin could efficiently and synergistically eradicate the colistin-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae, as confirmed by the synergy checkboard and time-kill assay. Mechanismly, the treatment of quercetin combined with colistin could significantly downregulate the expression of mcr-1 and mgrB that are responsible for colistin-resistance, synergistically enhancing the bacterial cell membrane damage efficacy of colistin. The colistin/quercetin combination was notably efficient in eradicating the colistin-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, our results may provide an efficient alternative pathway against colistin-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae infections.

Systematic Review of Antimicrobial Combination Options for Pandrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Antimicrobial combinations are at the moment the only potential treatment option for pandrug-resistant A. baumannii. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed and Scopus for studies reporting the activity of antimicrobial combinations against A. baumannii resistant to all components of the combination. The clinical relevance of synergistic combinations was assessed based on concentrations achieving synergy and PK/PD models. Eighty-four studies were retrieved including 818 eligible isolates. A variety of combinations (n = 141 double, n = 9 triple) were tested, with a variety of methods. Polymyxin-based combinations were the most studied, either as double or triple combinations with cell-wall acting agents (including sulbactam, carbapenems, glycopeptides), rifamycins and fosfomycin. Non-polymyxin combinations were predominantly based on rifampicin, fosfomycin, sulbactam and avibactam. Several combinations were synergistic at clinically relevant concentrations, while triple combinations appeared more active than the double ones. However, no combination was consistently synergistic against all strains tested. Notably, several studies reported synergy but at concentrations unlikely to be clinically relevant, or the concentration that synergy was observed was unclear. Selecting the most appropriate combinations is likely strain-specific and should be guided by in vitro synergy evaluation. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for clinical studies on the efficacy and safety of such combinations.

Combining Colistin with Furanone C-30 Rescues Colistin Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria in Vitro and in Vivo

The spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) has led to serious public health problems worldwide. Colistin, as a “last resort” for the treatment of MDR bacterial infections, has been used significantly in recent years and has led to the continuous emergence of colistin-resistant strains. In this study, we aimed to investigate the synergistic effect on the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of a colistin/furanone C-30 combination against colistin-resistant GNB in vitro and in vivo. According to antimicrobial resistance profiles, most of the colistin-resistant strains we collected showed MDR phenotypes. The checkerboard method and time-kill curve showed that the combination with furanone C-30 increases the antibacterial activity of colistin significantly. In addition, the furanone C-30/colistin combination can not only inhibit the formation of bacterial biofilm but also has a better eradication effect on preformed mature biofilms. The result of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that the furanone C-30/colistin combination led to a significant reduction in the number of cells in biofilms. Furthermore, furanone C-30 at 50 μg/ml did not cause any additional toxicity to RAW264.7 cells according to a cytotoxicity assay. In in vivo infection experiments, the furanone C-30/colistin combination increased the survival rate of infected Galleria mellonella larvae as well as decreased the microbial load in a mouse thigh infection model. The synergistic effect of the furanone C-30/colistin combination against colistin-resistant GNB is encouraging, and this work may shed light on a new therapeutic approach to combat colistin-resistant pathogens.

IMPORTANCE Colistin is among the few antibiotics effective against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) clinical isolates. However, colistin-resistant GNB strains have emerged in recent years. Therefore, the combination of colistin and nonantibacterial drugs has attracted much attention. In this study, the furanone C-30/colistin combination showed good antibacterial and antibiofilm activity in vitro and in vivo. In addition, increased membrane permeability leads to the synergistic effect of the furanone C-30/colistin combination. Because of the low cytotoxicity of furanone C-30, this combination has good application prospects in clinical anti-infective therapy. This finding might shed light on the discovery of combination therapy for infections caused by colistin-resistant GNB pathogens.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of in vitro efficacy of antibiotic combination therapy against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli

The superiority of combination therapy for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) infections remains controversial. In vitro models may predict the efficacy of antibiotic regimens against CR-GNB. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) and time-kill (TK) studies examining the in vitro efficacy of antibiotic combinations against CR-GNB [PROSPERO registration no. CRD42019128104]. The primary outcome was in vitro synergy based on the effect size (ES): high, ES ≥ 0.75, moderate, 0.35 < ES < 0.75; low, ES ≤ 0.35; and absent, ES = 0). A network meta-analysis assessed the bactericidal effect and re-growth rate (secondary outcomes). An adapted version of the ToxRTool was used for risk-of-bias assessment. Over 180 combination regimens from 136 studies were included. The most frequently analysed classes were polymyxins and carbapenems. Limited data were available for ceftazidime/avibactam, ceftolozane/tazobactam and imipenem/relebactam. High or moderate synergism was shown for polymyxin/rifampicin against Acinetobacter baumannii [ES = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44-1.00], polymyxin/fosfomycin against Klebsiella pneumoniae (ES = 1.00, 95% CI 0.66-1.00) and imipenem/amikacin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ES = 1.00, 95% CI 0.21-1.00). Compared with monotherapy, increased bactericidal activity and lower re-growth rates were reported for colistin/fosfomycin and polymyxin/rifampicin in K. pneumoniae and for imipenem/amikacin or imipenem/tobramycin against P. aeruginosa. High quality was documented for 65% and 53% of PK/PD and TK studies, respectively. Well-designed in vitro studies should be encouraged to guide the selection of combination therapies in clinical trials and to improve the armamentarium against carbapenem-resistant bacteria.

Rescuing the Last-Line Polymyxins: Achievements and Challenges

Antibiotic resistance is a major global health challenge and, worryingly, several key Gram negative pathogens can become resistant to most currently available antibiotics. Polymyxins have been revived as a last-line therapeutic option for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram negative bacteria, in particular Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacterales. Polymyxins were first discovered in the late 1940s but were abandoned soon after their approval in the late 1950s as a result of toxicities (e.g., nephrotoxicity) and the availability of "safer" antibiotics approved at that time. Therefore, knowledge on polymyxins had been scarce until recently, when enormous efforts have been made by several research teams around the world to elucidate the chemical, microbiological, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic, and toxicological properties of polymyxins. One of the major achievements is the development of the first scientifically based dosage regimens for colistin that are crucial to ensure its safe and effective use in patients. Although the guideline has not been developed for polymyxin B, a large clinical trial is currently being conducted to optimize its clinical use. Importantly, several novel, safer polymyxin-like lipopeptides are developed to overcome the nephrotoxicity, poor efficacy against pulmonary infections, and narrow therapeutic windows of the currently used polymyxin B and colistin. This review discusses the latest achievements on polymyxins and highlights the major challenges ahead in optimizing their clinical use and discovering new-generation polymyxins. To save lives from the deadly infections caused by Gram negative "superbugs," every effort must be made to improve the clinical utility of the last-line polymyxins. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to global health. The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections has been highlighted by leading global health organizations and authorities. Polymyxins are a last-line defense against difficult-to-treat MDR Gram negative pathogens. Unfortunately, the pharmacological information on polymyxins was very limited until recently. This review provides a comprehensive overview on the major achievements and challenges in polymyxin pharmacology and clinical use and how the recent findings have been employed to improve clinical practice worldwide.

Rational Combinations of Polymyxins with Other Antibiotics

Combinations of antimicrobial agents are often used in the management of infectious diseases. Antimicrobial agents used as part of combination therapy are often selected empirically. As regrowth and the emergence of polymyxin (either colistin or polymyxin B) resistance has been observed with polymyxin monotherapy, polymyxin combination therapy has been suggested as a possible means by which to increase antimicrobial activity and reduce the development of resistance. This chapter provides an overview of preclinical and clinical investigations of CMS/colistin and polymyxin B combination therapy. In vitro data and animal model data suggests a potential clinical benefit with many drug combinations containing clinically achievable concentrations of polymyxins, even when resistance to one or more of the drugs in combination is present and including antibiotics normally inactive against Gram-negative organisms. The growing body of data on the emergence of polymyxin resistance with monotherapy lends theoretical support to a benefit with combination therapy. Benefits include enhanced bacterial killing and a suppression of polymyxin resistant subpopulations. However, the complexity of the critically ill patient population, and high rates of treatment failure and death irrespective of infection-related outcome make demonstrating a potential benefit for polymyxin combinations extremely challenging. Polymyxin combination therapy in the clinic remains a heavily debated and controversial topic. When combinations are selected, optimizing the dosage regimens for the polymyxin and the combinatorial agent is critical to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risk of the development of toxicity. Importantly, patient characteristics, pharmacokinetics, the site of infection, pathogen and resistance mechanism must be taken into account to define optimal and rational polymyxin combination regimens in the clinic.

Biology of Acinetobacter baumannii: Pathogenesis, Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms, and Prospective Treatment Options

Acinetobacter baumannii is undoubtedly one of the most successful pathogens responsible for hospital-acquired nosocomial infections in the modern healthcare system. Due to the prevalence of infections and outbreaks caused by multi-drug resistant A. baumannii, few antibiotics are effective for treating infections caused by this pathogen. To overcome this problem, knowledge of the pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance mechanisms of A. baumannii is important. In this review, we summarize current studies on the virulence factors that contribute to A. baumannii pathogenesis, including porins, capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, phospholipases, outer membrane vesicles, metal acquisition systems, and protein secretion systems. Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance of this organism, including acquirement of β-lactamases, up-regulation of multidrug efflux pumps, modification of aminoglycosides, permeability defects, and alteration of target sites, are also discussed. Lastly, novel prospective treatment options for infections caused by multi-drug resistant A. baumannii are summarized.