AIEC-LF82 is a strain of bacteria that is surmised to have a role in causing IBD and Crohn’s disease by activating pro-inflammatory gene expression in organisms. Using antibiotics via combination therapy has been a technique used in clinical settings in an attempt to treat the strains, however, the attempts have not been that effective nor efficient in terms of completely halting the growth and colonization of AIEC to treat IBD and Crohn's disease patients. Research has shown that regarding hindering or preventing the colonization bacterial colonies, sequential therapy tends to be more effective and time-efficient than combination therapy, with fewer adverse effects. To test if this is also the case with the AIEC-LF82 strain of bacteria, I first tested AIEC’s response to combination therapy using the Penicillin-Streptomycin, Kanamycin-Chloramphenicol, antimicrobial peptide (AMP), Kanamycin, SPE phase and LB agar plates, all of which were experimental plates other than the LB agar plate that acted as the negative control. I then tested AIEC-LF82’s response to sequential therapy using the LB+ Kan + Spe, LB + AMP + Spe, LB+ Kan/Cam + Spe, LB + P/S + Spe, LB + P/S + Kan and LB + P/S + AMP and one LB agar plate acting as the negative control. The only differences between sets a and b were the order in which antibiotics were administered in the six aforementioned treatment sets. Ultimately, I found that set b of sequential therapy, strong-weak antibiotic treatments, was the most effective treatment but that set a regarding sequential therapy was actually the least effective of all of the treatments. In conclusion, using strong-weak sequential antibiotic therapy treatments appears to be a potentially promising option to treat patients suffering from Crohn's disease and IBD.
