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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Antimicrobial Synergy Testing by the Inkjet Printer-assisted Automated Checkerboard Array and the Manual Time-kill Method
Published on: April 18, 2019
A Pilot Study of the Synergy between Two Antimicrobial Peptides and Two Common Antibiotics
Franziska Kampshoff1, Mark D P Willcox2, Debarun Dutta3,4
1School of Life Science, Engineering & Design, Saxion University of Applied Science, 7513 AB Ensched Enschede, The Netherlands. franziska.kampshoff@gmx.de.
Background:
Frequent and unrestricted use of antibiotics has been associated with the development of antibiotic resistance by microorganisms. Thus, there is a need to find novel antibacterial agents or a combination of agents as the first line of treatment for various infections. This study aimed to investigate the synergy between antimicrobial peptide (AMP) combinations or between AMP-antibiotics combinations using two common pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.
Methods:
The AMPs melimine, Mel4 and protamine, and antibiotics cefepime and ciprofloxacin were used in this study. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each were evaluated against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains by a microtiter broth dilution. Based on the MIC of each antimicrobial agent, a checkerboard assay was performed to investigate the synergy between them, which was expressed as the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC).
Results:
The combination of melimine and ciprofloxacin showed synergistic activity against antibiotic sensitive or resistant strains of P. aeruginosa and with FIC values ≤0.5.
Conclusion:
Combinations of AMPs and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin is a promising method for reducing resistance to the fluoroquinolone of P. aeruginosa.
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