scholarly journals Alarmone Ap4A is elevated by aminoglycoside antibiotics and enhances their bactericidal activity

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (19) ◽  
pp. 9578-9585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Ji ◽  
Jin Zou ◽  
Haibo Peng ◽  
Anne-Sophie Stolle ◽  
Ruiqiang Xie ◽  
...  

Second messenger molecules play important roles in the responses to various stimuli that can determine a cell's fate under stress conditions. Here, we report that lethal concentrations of aminoglycoside antibiotics result in the production of a dinucleotide alarmone metabolite–diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A), which promotes bacterial cell killing by this class of antibiotics. We show that the treatment ofEscherichia coliwith lethal concentrations of kanamycin (Kan) dramatically increases the production of Ap4A. This elevation of Ap4A is dependent on the production of a hydroxyl radical and involves the induction of the Ap4A synthetase lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysU). Ectopic alteration of intracellular Ap4A concentration via the elimination of the Ap4A phosphatase diadenosine tetraphosphatase (ApaH) and the overexpression of LysU causes over a 5,000-fold increase in bacterial killing by aminoglycosides. This increased susceptibility to aminoglycosides correlates with bacterial membrane disruption. Our findings provide a role for the alarmone Ap4A and suggest that blocking Ap4A degradation or increasing its synthesis might constitute an approach to enhance aminoglycoside killing potency by broadening their therapeutic index and thereby allowing lower nontoxic dosages of these antibiotics to be used in the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 2047
Author(s):  
Magda Ferreira ◽  
Maria Ogren ◽  
Joana N. R. Dias ◽  
Marta Silva ◽  
Solange Gil ◽  
...  

Antimicrobial drugs are key tools to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Despite the early success of antibiotics, the current treatment of bacterial infections faces serious challenges due to the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria. Moreover, the decline of research and private investment in new antibiotics further aggravates this antibiotic crisis era. Overcoming the complexity of antimicrobial resistance must go beyond the search of new classes of antibiotics and include the development of alternative solutions. The evolution of nanomedicine has allowed the design of new drug delivery systems with improved therapeutic index for the incorporated compounds. One of the most promising strategies is their association to lipid-based delivery (nano)systems. A drug’s encapsulation in liposomes has been demonstrated to increase its accumulation at the infection site, minimizing drug toxicity and protecting the antibiotic from peripheral degradation. In addition, liposomes may be designed to fuse with bacterial cells, holding the potential to overcome antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation and constituting a promising solution for the treatment of potential fatal multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In this review, we aim to address the applicability of antibiotic encapsulated liposomes as an effective therapeutic strategy for bacterial infections.


2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 1420-1427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora E. Wiskirchen ◽  
Pornpan Koomanachai ◽  
Anthony M. Nicasio ◽  
David P. Nicolau ◽  
Joseph L. Kuti

ABSTRACTMultidrug-resistantKlebsiella pneumoniaestrains that produce a serine carbapenemase (KPC) are emerging worldwide, with few therapeutic options that retain consistent susceptibility. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of combination therapy with tigecycline versus tigecycline alone against KPC-producing isolates (KPC isolates). Anin vitropharmacodynamic model was used to simulate adult steady-state epithelial lining fluid concentrations of tigecycline (50 mg every 12 h) given alone and in combination with either meropenem (2 g by 3-hour infusion every 8 h) or rifampin (600 mg every 12 h). Five KPC isolates with various phenotypic profiles were exposed over 48 h. Time-kill curves were constructed, and the areas under the bacterial killing and regrowth curves (AUBCs) were calculated. No regimens tested were able to maintain bactericidal reductions in CFU over 48 h. The AUBCs for tigecycline and meropenem monotherapies at 48 h ranged from 375.37 to 388.11 and from 348.62 to 383.83 (CFU-h/ml), respectively. The combination of tigecycline plus meropenem significantly reduced the AUBCs at 24 and 48 h for isolates with tigecycline MICs of ≤2 μg/ml and meropenem MICs of ≤16 μg/ml (P< 0.001) but added no additional activity when the meropenem MIC was 64 μg/ml (P= 0.5). Rifampin provided no additional reduction in CFU or AUBC over tigecycline alone (P= 0.837). The combination of tigecycline with high-dose, prolonged-infusion meropenem warrants further study as a potential treatment option for these multidrug-resistant organisms.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannick Charretier ◽  
Seydina M. Diene ◽  
Damien Baud ◽  
Sonia Chatellier ◽  
Emmanuelle Santiago-Allexant ◽  
...  

AbstractMultidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection has recently emerged as a worldwide clinical problem and colistin is increasingly being used as last resort therapy. Despite its favorable bacterial killing, resistance and heteroresistance to colistin have been described. Mutations in the PmrAB regulatory pathway have been already associated with colistin resistance whereas the mechanisms for heteroresistance remain largely unknown. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of PmrAB in laboratory-selected mutants representative of global epidemic strains. During brief colistin exposure, colistin resistant and colistin heteroresistant mutants were selected in a one-step strategy. Population Analysis Profiling (PAP) was performed to confirm the suspected phenotype. Upon withdrawal of selective pressure, compensatory mutations were evaluated in another one-step strategy. A trans-complementation assay was designed to delineate the involvement of the PmrAB regulatory system using qPCR and PAP. Mutations in the PmrAB regulatory pathway were associated with colistin resistance and colistin heteroresistance as well. The transcomplementation assay provides a proof for the role played by changes in the PmrAB regulatory pathway. The level of colistin resistance is correlated to the level of expression of pmrC. The resistance phenotype was partially restored since the complemented strain became heteroresistant. This report shows the role of different mutations in the PmrAB regulatory pathway and warns on the development of colistin heteroresistance that could be present but not easily detected with routine testing.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Cástková ◽  
C Beneš

In 2008, 1,616 cases of hepatitis A were reported in the Czech Republic, more than a 10-fold increase compared with the annual number of cases registered in 2003-2007. The infection was initially associated with injecting drug users, most probably by person-to-person contact or parenteral transmission, and in the second half of the year continued to spread among the general population with increased susceptibility.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1425-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingshu Fei ◽  
Xiaochuan Ma ◽  
Ge Fang ◽  
Yu Chong ◽  
Xin Tian ◽  
...  

We aimed to develop antimicrobial agents that satisfy biosafety considerations while exhibiting efficient antimicrobial activity. Peptide-capped silver nanoclusters (peptide@AgNCs) were designed. In addition, the antimicrobial activity and mechanism of peptide@AgNCs were studied. The hemolysis and cytotoxicity tests on mammalian cells were used to confirm the biocompatibility of peptide@ AgNCs. KLA@AgNCs exhibited dramatic antimicrobial activity without inducing significant cytotoxicity in mammalian cells. The KLA@AgNCs destroyed the integrity of the bacterial membrane and induced ROS accumulation, causing oxidative damage to biomolecules. The malfunction of the respiratory chain complexes I and V completely suppresses the energy production, ultimately accelerating the death of the bacteria. Our findings may advance the development of Ag-based nanomaterials with enhanced bactericidal activity and improved biocompatibility.


Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 2133-2142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruella Rouf ◽  
Sara M. Karaba ◽  
Jenny Dao ◽  
Nicholas P. Cianciotto

The environmental bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is increasingly described as a multidrug-resistant pathogen of humans, being associated with pneumonia, among other diseases. But the degree to which S. maltophilia is capable of replicating in a mammalian host has been an issue of controversy. Using a model of intranasal inoculation into adult A/J mice, we now document that S. maltophilia strain K279a, the clinical isolate of S. maltophilia whose complete genome sequence was recently determined, is in fact capable of replicating in lungs, displaying as much as a 10-fold increase in c.f.u. in the first 8 h of infection. Importantly, as few as 104 c.f.u. deposited into the A/J lung was sufficient to promote bacterial outgrowth. Bacterial replication in the lungs of the A/J mice was followed by elevations in pro-inflammatory cytokines and also promoted resistance to subsequent challenge. We also found that DBA/2 mice were permissive for S. maltophilia K279a replication, although the level of growth and persistence in these animals was less than it was in the A/J mice. In contrast, the BALB/c and C57BL/6 mouse strains were non-permissive for S. maltophilia K279a growth. Interestingly, when five additional clinical isolates were introduced into the A/J lung, marked differences in survival were observed, with some strains being much less infective than K279a and others being appreciably more infective. These data suggest that the presence of major virulence determinants is variable among clinical isolates. Overall, this study confirms the infectivity of S. maltophilia for the mammalian host, and illustrates how both host and bacterial factors affect the outcome of Stenotrophomonas infection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajbharan Yadav ◽  
Jürgen B. Bulitta ◽  
Roger L. Nation ◽  
Cornelia B. Landersdorfer

ABSTRACT Optimizing antibiotic combinations is promising to combat multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study aimed to systematically evaluate synergistic bacterial killing and prevention of resistance by carbapenem and aminoglycoside combinations and to rationally optimize combination dosage regimens via a mechanism-based mathematical model (MBM). We studied monotherapies and combinations of imipenem with tobramycin or amikacin against three difficult-to-treat double-resistant clinical P. aeruginosa isolates. Viable-count profiles of total and resistant populations were quantified in 48-h static-concentration time-kill studies (inoculum, 107.5 CFU/ml). We rationally optimized combination dosage regimens via MBM and Monte Carlo simulations against isolate FADDI-PA088 (MIC of imipenem [MICimipenem] of 16 mg/liter and MICtobramycin of 32 mg/liter, i.e., both 98th percentiles according to the EUCAST database). Against this isolate, imipenem (1.5× MIC) combined with 1 to 2 mg/liter tobramycin (MIC, 32 mg/liter) or amikacin (MIC, 4 mg/liter) yielded ≥2-log10 more killing than the most active monotherapy at 48 h and prevented resistance. For all three strains, synergistic killing without resistance was achieved by ≥0.88× MICimipenem in combination with a median of 0.75× MICtobramycin (range, 0.032× to 2.0× MICtobramycin) or 0.50× MICamikacin (range, 0.25× to 0.50× MICamikacin). The MBM indicated that aminoglycosides significantly enhanced the imipenem target site concentration up to 3-fold; achieving 50% of this synergistic effect required aminoglycoside concentrations of 1.34 mg/liter (if the aminoglycoside MIC was 4 mg/liter) and 4.88 mg/liter (for MICs of 8 to 32 mg/liter). An optimized combination regimen (continuous infusion of imipenem at 5 g/day plus a 0.5-h infusion with 7 mg/kg of body weight tobramycin) was predicted to achieve >2.0-log10 killing and prevent regrowth at 48 h in 90.3% of patients (median bacterial killing, >4.0 log10 CFU/ml) against double-resistant isolate FADDI-PA088 and therefore was highly promising.


Blood ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 3267-3273 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Berman ◽  
M McBride

Abstract We examined the effect of daunorubicin (DNR), the new anthracycline derivative idarubicin (IDR), and verapamil on two leukemia cell lines that displayed the multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotype and used laser flow cytometry to quantitate intracellular anthracycline content. The vinblastine-resistant human lymphoblastic leukemia cell line CEM-VBL demonstrated minimal DNR uptake; simultaneous incubation with verapamil and DNR increased intracellular DNR uptake fourfold. IDR uptake was 10 times more rapid in these cells and simultaneous incubation with IDR and verapamil resulted in only a 1.2-fold increase of intracellular IDR. Similar results were observed in the vincristine-resistant human myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60/RV+. Intracellular retention of DNR and IDR was also measured in each cell line. In CEM-BVL cells, 38% of the original DNR concentration remained after a 2-hour resuspension in fresh medium compared with 71% of the original IDR concentration. In HL- 60/RV+ cells, 36% of the DNR concentration remained compared with 51% of the IDR concentration. After incubation of CEM-VBL and HL-60/RV+ cells with DNR for 1 hour followed by resuspension in fresh medium plus verapamil, intracellular DNA retention increased 5- and 5.2-fold, respectively. However, incubation of these cells for 1 hour with IDR followed by resuspension in fresh medium plus verapamil resulted in only a 1.6- and 2.4-fold increase in intracellular IDR retention. Lastly, clonogenic experiments were performed to correlate intracellular anthracycline content with cytotoxicity. DNR alone had a minimal effect on the clonogenic growth of CEM-VBL cells, whereas the combination of DNR plus verapamil resulted in approximately 80% growth inhibition. However, incubation of these cells with IDR alone resulted in greater than 95% growth inhibition. These results suggest that IDR may be more effective than DNR in leukemia cells that display the MDR phenotype.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Mon Aye ◽  
Irene Galani ◽  
Heidi Yu ◽  
Jiping Wang ◽  
Ke Chen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Resistance to polymyxin antibiotics is increasing. Without new antibiotic classes, combination therapy is often required. We systematically investigated bacterial killing with polymyxin-based combinations against multidrug-resistant (including polymyxin-resistant), carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Monotherapies and double- and triple-combination therapies were compared to identify the most efficacious treatment using static time-kill studies (24 h, six isolates), an in vitro pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model (IVM; 48 h, two isolates), and the mouse thigh infection model (24 h, six isolates). In static time-kill studies, all monotherapies (polymyxin B, rifampin, amikacin, meropenem, or minocycline) were ineffective. Initial bacterial killing was enhanced with various polymyxin B-containing double combinations; however, substantial regrowth occurred in most cases by 24 h. Most polymyxin B-containing triple combinations provided greater and more sustained killing than double combinations. Standard dosage regimens of polymyxin B (2.5 mg/kg of body weight/day), rifampin (600 mg every 12 h), and amikacin (7.5 mg/kg every 12 h) were simulated in the IVM. Against isolate ATH 16, no viable bacteria were detected across 5 to 25 h with triple therapy, with regrowth to ∼2-log10 CFU/ml occurring at 48 h. Against isolate BD 32, rapid initial killing of ∼3.5-log10 CFU/ml at 5 h was followed by a slow decline to ∼2-log10 CFU/ml at 48 h. In infected mice, polymyxin B monotherapy (60 mg/kg/day) generally was ineffective. With triple therapy (polymyxin B at 60 mg/kg/day, rifampin at 120 mg/kg/day, and amikacin at 300 mg/kg/day), at 24 h there was an ∼1.7-log10 CFU/thigh reduction compared to the starting inoculum for all six isolates. Our results demonstrate that the polymyxin B-rifampin-amikacin combination significantly enhanced in vitro and in vivo bacterial killing, providing important information for the optimization of polymyxin-based combinations in patients.


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