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Photodynamic Therapy and Its Synergism with Melittin Against Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates with High Biofilm Formation Ability

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Abstract

Drug-resistant biofilm producer A. baumannii isolates are a global concern that warns researchers about the development of new treatments. This study was designed to analyze the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as monotherapy and associated with melittin on multidrug-resistant A. baumannii isolates. Sub-lethal doses of photosensitizer, LED, and PDT were determined. The PDT effect on the biofilm and expression of biofilm-associated genes was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) methods, respectively. The synergistic effect of PDT and melittin on the survival of MDR/XDR strong biofilm producer isolates was evaluated by checkerboard assay. Survival rates were significantly decreased at the lowest concentration of 12.5–50 μg/ml in 4 min at an energy density of 93.75 J/cm2 (P < 0.05). The optimized PDT method had a bactericidal effect against all tested groups, and the mean expression levels of csu, abaI, bap, and ompA genes in the strong biofilm producers were decreased significantly compared to the control group. The combined effect of LED and melittin successfully reduced the MDR/XDR A. baumannii strong biofilm producers' growth from 3.1 logs. MB-mediated aPDT and combined treatment of PDT with melittin, which has been investigated for the first time in this study, can be an efficient strategy against MDR/XDR A. baumannii isolates with strong biofilm production capacity.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Islamshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sayyad Shirazi St., P.O. Box: 33135/369, Eslamshahr, Iran

    Laleh Babaeekhou

  2. Department of Biology, Islamshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Eslamshahr, Iran

    Laleh Babaeekhou, Maryam Ghane & Masoumeh Mohammad Rafiee

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  1. Laleh Babaeekhou
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  2. Maryam Ghane
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Contributions

LB: conceptualization, methodology, experimental works, statistical analysis, article writing; MG: methodology, experimental works, statistical analysis; MMR: experimental works. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Laleh Babaeekhou.

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The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad Tehran Medical Sciences University (Code: IR.IAU.PS.REC.1399.197).

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Babaeekhou, L., Ghane, M. & Mohammad Rafiee, M. Photodynamic Therapy and Its Synergism with Melittin Against Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates with High Biofilm Formation Ability. Curr Microbiol 80, 324 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-023-03356-3

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