Therapeutic effect of a pig-derived peptide antibiotic on porcine wound infections.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the therapeutic potential of the pig-derived antimicrobial peptide protegrin-1 (PG-1) against porcine skin wounds infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


METHODS
Using a porcine skin wound model, PG-1 was added to the wound fluid either at the time of P. aeruginosa inoculation, four hours after inoculation or 24 hours after inoculation. Wound fluids were analyzed 20-24 hours later by use of colony-forming unit (CFU) assays, semiquantitative immunoblot analysis for PG-1, and radial diffusion assays (RDA) for residual in vitro activity.


RESULTS
Results of the CFU assays indicated a 10,000-fold decrease in the number of bacteria when PG-1 was added at the time of inoculation, a 120-fold decrease when added 4 hours after inoculation and a 10-fold decrease when added 24 hours after inoculation. Results of immunoblot analysis and RDA indicated that PG-1 concentrations for each of the three conditions remained increased in wound fluid 20 to 24 hours after treatment, and correlated with increased residual in vitro antimicrobial activity.


CONCLUSIONS
These results document that the endogenous antibiotic PG-1 significantly prevented the colonization of P. aeruginosa in wounds and reduced the in vivo bacterial concentration in established wound infections. Therapeutics used in the same animal species from which they were derived are a promising means for preventing and treating localized infections.
Ceccarelli
A V
AV
Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
Cole
A M
AM
Park
A K
AK
Tahk
S
S
Yoshioka
D
D
Ganz
T
T
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011506:Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D011506:Proteins; C094880:protegrin-1