Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 2, 2025

A Platform of Anti-biofilm Assays Suited to the Exploration of Natural Compound Libraries
09:39

A Platform of Anti-biofilm Assays Suited to the Exploration of Natural Compound Libraries

Published on: December 27, 2016

18.0K

Synergistic effect of antibiotic combinations on Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and their persister cell populations

Ekta Kamble1, Purva Sanghvi1, Karishma Pardesi1

  • 1Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune, 411 007, Maharashtra, India.

Biofilm
|February 24, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Antibiotic combinations effectively reduce Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and persister cells, offering a promising strategy against multidrug-resistant infections. Further clinical investigation is warranted for these synergistic treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Multidrug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, particularly persister cells, complicates treatment.
  • Antibiotic combinations are a potential strategy to overcome resistance and eradicate persistent bacterial populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of antibiotic combinations against Staphylococcus aureus persister cells and biofilms.
  • To determine synergistic effects and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of various antibiotic pairings.

Main Methods:

  • Checkerboard assays were used to determine fractional inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin-daptomycin, ciprofloxacin-vancomycin, daptomycin-tobramycin, and tobramycin-vancomycin.
  • Biofilm inhibition and disruption assays were performed.
  • Time-kill assays assessed the reduction of persister cells.

Main Results:

  • All tested antibiotic combinations exhibited synergistic effects, reducing MICs significantly (2 to 256-fold).
  • Combinations demonstrated concentration-dependent inhibition and disruption of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.
  • Time-kill assays revealed a significant reduction in persister cells (2-6 log10 CFU) with antibiotic combinations compared to monotherapies.

Conclusions:

  • Antibiotic combinations show significant potential in combating multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, including persister cells and biofilms.
  • These synergistic combinations warrant further investigation for clinical application against recalcitrant staphylococcal infections.
Keywords:
BiofilmDrug combinationDrug toleranceStaphylococcus aureus

More Related Videos

Targeting Biofilm Associated Staphylococcus aureus Using Resazurin Based Drug-susceptibility Assay10:00

Targeting Biofilm Associated Staphylococcus aureus Using Resazurin Based Drug-susceptibility Assay

Published on: May 5, 2016

13.4K
Time-Lapse Epifluorescence Microscopy Imaging of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus Heterogeneous Phenotypes07:44

Time-Lapse Epifluorescence Microscopy Imaging of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus Heterogeneous Phenotypes

Published on: February 14, 2025

1.1K

Related Concept Videos

Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism01:27

Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism

Synergism is a useful mechanism where combining two or more drugs is more effective than each constituent used alone. Such combinations are also called supra-additive interactions. The drugs collectively enhance the final therapeutic effect by acting on different targets. Another advantage is that the low dose of each constituent drug is sufficient to achieve the desired effect. This helps reduce the duration of therapy and lower the adverse effects of these drugs.
Such synergistic combinations...
5.0K
Biofilms01:29

Biofilms

Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms encased in a self-produced extracellular polysaccharide matrix attached to surfaces. These microbial consortia can include single or multiple species, providing enhanced survival benefits by forming organized, multilayered structures.The formation of biofilms occurs through four key stages: attachment, colonization, development, and dispersal.During attachment, free-swimming planktonic cells adhere to a surface, often facilitated by...
394
Antimicrobial Effectiveness01:28

Antimicrobial Effectiveness

The effectiveness of antimicrobial agents depends on various factors influencing their ability to eliminate microbial populations. Larger microbial populations require more time for complete eradication, emphasizing the importance of population size analysis when evaluating antimicrobial efficacy.Microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents varies significantly. Highly resilient microorganisms include endospores, gram-negative bacteria, and non-enveloped viruses, while prions are exceptionally...
260
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing01:28

Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing

Quorum sensing is a mechanism of bacterial communication that enables coordinated gene expression in response to changes in population density. This facilitates collective behaviors that enhance survival, resource acquisition, and ecological adaptation. This process relies on small signaling molecules called autoinducers that accumulate as bacterial populations grow. When a critical threshold concentration of autoinducers is reached, bacterial cells collectively modify gene expression,...
116