Synergistic Effect between Colistin and Bacteriocins in Controlling Gram-Negative Pathogens and Their Potential To Reduce Antibiotic Toxicity in Mammalian Epithelial Cells

Abstract

ABSTRACTPathogens resistant to most conventional antibiotics are a harbinger of the need to discover novel antimicrobials and anti-infective agents and develop innovative strategies to combat them. The aim of this study was to assess thein vitroactivity of colistin alone or in combination with two bacteriocins, nisin A and pediocin PA-1/AcH, againstSalmonella choleraesuisATCC 14028,Pseudomonas aeruginosaATCC 27853,Yersinia enterocoliticaATCC 9610, andEscherichia coliATCC 35150 (O157:H7). The strain most sensitive to colistin was enterohemorrhagicE. coliO157:H7, which was inhibited at a concentration of about 0.12 μg/ml. When nisin A (1.70 μg/ml) or pediocin PA-1/AcH (1.56 μg/ml) was combined with colistin, the concentrations required to inhibitE. coliO157:H7 were 0.01 and 0.03 μg/ml, respectively. Thein vitroantigenotoxic effect of colistin was determined by using the comet assay method to measure the level of DNA damage in freshly isolated human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) incubated with colistin for 1 h at 37°C. Changes in the tail extents of PBLs of about 69.29 ± 0.08 μm were observed at a final colistin concentration of about 550 ng/ml. Besides the synergistic effect, the combination of colistin (1 mg/ml) and nisin (2 mg/ml) permitted us to re-evaluate the toxic effect of colistin on Vero (monkey kidney epithelial) cells.