Efficacy of OH-CATH30 and Its Analogs against Drug-Resistant BacteriaIn Vitroand in Mouse Models

Abstract

ABSTRACTAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been considered alternatives to conventional antibiotics for drug-resistant bacterial infections. However, their comparatively high toxicity toward eukaryotic cells and poor efficacyin vivohamper their clinical application. OH-CATH30, a novel cathelicidin peptide deduced from the king cobra, possesses potent antibacterial activityin vitro. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of OH-CATH30 and its analog OH-CM6 against drug-resistant bacteriain vitroandin vivo. The MICs of OH-CATH30 and OH-CM6 ranged from 1.56 to 12.5 μg/ml against drug-resistant clinical isolates of several pathogenic species, includingEscherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus. The MICs of OH-CATH30 and OH-CM6 were slightly altered in the presence of 25% human serum. OH-CATH30 and OH-CM6 killedE. coliquickly (within 60 min) by disrupting the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane. Importantly, the 50% lethal doses (LD50) of OH-CATH30 and OH-CM6 in mice following intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection were 120 mg/kg of body weight and 100 mg/kg, respectively, and no death was observed at any dose up to 160 mg/kg following subcutaneous (s.c.) injection. Moreover, 10 mg/kg OH-CATH30 or OH-CM6 significantly decreased the bacterial counts as well as the inflammatory response in a mouse thigh infection model and rescued infected mice in a bacteremia model induced by drug-resistantE. coli. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the natural cathelicidin peptide OH-CATH30 and its analogs exhibit relatively low toxicity and potent efficacy in mouse models, indicating that they may have therapeutic potential against the systemic infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria.